Drive
by NaTanaka
Summary: Begins after the conclusion of Project D. Focuses mainly on Ryousuke, how he deals with a serious accident, and how its consequences will forever change the way he looks at his future. Chapter Nine Up! Reviews greatly appreciated.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

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The white FC sped down the wet roads of Akagi with a speed achievable only by the skills and technique of the man behind the wheel.

His heart pounded deep inside his chest; for once, driving had ceased to bring its usual calm but only frustrated him more. Merely a week after the conclusion of Project D, both Keisuke and Takumi had received an outpouring of sponsors, all eagerly vying for a chance to further their professional careers. His project was a great success and he was deeply happy for them. This result was the intention of Project D, to conquer the Japanese street racing teams and prove his theory for the fastest street driving method – all of which was accomplished. If so, then what was this unsettled feeling in his stomach?

The frustration floated from his head to his foot as he revved his FC higher.

---------- Flashback -----------

As he stood at the podium giving his salutatorian speech, Ryousuke could feel the eyes of the audience on him – some in admiration, others in envy. The stares didn't bother him, he had been used to the attention all of his life. His father sat with his mother and family in the second row of the audience with proud looks on their faces. Keisuke looked like he was struggling to stay awake. Ryousuke didn't blame his younger brother. He had, after all, conquered the last remaining undefeated team in Chiba less than a week earlier. It had been an endless string of well-deserved parties for the younger Takahashi since. After receiving his first sponsorship offer, he even called Kyoko to celebrate.

As Ryousuke completed his speech about dreams, ambitions, and their individual fulfillments, his mind wandered to his own dreams. Being the older son, he never had a wide variety of choices in professions. There was no question of practicing medicine; merely what type of medicine. Racing was a hobby with which his parents indulged him and Keisuke, but it was never meant to be one of his career options.

Towards the end of Project D, the racing magazines which covered their continued successes began to speculate on why Takahashi Ryousuke, the renowned driver and leader, would choose to end such a promising career without even final last battle. Most expressed a desire to watch the members of Project D race each other – mainly the FC and the Hachi-Rocku. Ryousuke himself had always made a point of avoiding such questions. He had stayed safely behind the scenes and out of the cars of Project D for a complete year, with only one near mishap. It had taken every bit of will power Ryousuke possessed to not race the Todou School's professional driver himself.

In the end, he was satisfied with his decision. Fujiwara proved himself that night in more ways than one. He not only had the skills to push a professional, circuit trained driver, but could also easily take his opponent's strategies and adapt them into his own, constantly improving his technique with every additional challenge. He was proud of Fujiwara and decided then that, under no circumstance, would he race his FC during on of Project D's battles. Racing himself would indicate that he did not have enough confidence in his drivers, therefore partially disproving his theory of street racing.

All of the articles, however, were lusting after a one-time, out of retirement battle for Ryousuke on Akagi before entering into medicine full time. The spectators wanted to see Akagi's White Comet in its full glory. Ryousuke wanted nothing less than to race once more. His main concern, however, that kept him from pursuing this was that, if he raced once more, would once more be enough?

----------- End Flashback -----------

The FC spun around the corner, missing the railing by mere centimeters. The galleries were completely empty that evening due to the heavy rain that covered almost all of Gunma. Visibility was getting worse by the minute.

"Time to go home," he sighed, rocking his car towards the outside of the turn before using the rebound of grip to throw it back into cornering position.

----------- Flashback -----------

"Aniki, now that Project D is over and successful," chirped Keisuke, downing another small cup of warm sake, "you should consider battling me just for fun."

Ryousuke bit into his pie as he contemplated his brother's words. The thought was tempting. "There is no such thing as a battle for fun. When you race, you race to improve yourself and defeat your opponent."

"We could do that."

Ryousuke raised an eyebrow at his brother. "Can you live up to your challenge?"

Keisuke only hiccupped.

Fumihiro grinned, "Right now, I think Keisuke-san can fly with his spoiler and win everyone in Asia. Even Fujiwara wouldn't stand a chance."

Keisuke perked up. "Where is Fujiwara?"

"I think he went to visit a girl. Apparently, he had a girlfriend in the university that none of us knew about," interjected Kenji. "I wonder why he didn't say anything. She must either be really cute or really bad looking for him to be so quiet about it."

Ryousuke shook his head at the men. "Sometimes, Kenji, it is best to keep you intimate feelings under the surface, where they belong."

Keisuke rolled his eyes. "Aaaaniki! You can't always be serious about everything. I know for a fact that below that exterior, there's a semblance of a human being." He waved a drunken finger at Ryousuke and then added, "Tsugumi can vouch for it also."

"She's too young to understand emotions."

"She's eighteen!"

Ryousuke sipped his sake. What she really that old? More importantly, was HE really that old? Apparently. He came to attention just in time to join in a cheer for Takumi, followed by one for Keisuke, and then one for himself.

"To the end of something great," said Keisuke, fumbling over his words, "and the beginning of something great…er."

Would it really be greater?

----------- End Flashback ----------

He didn't see the taillights until he had cleared the corner. By then, the Toyota Supra had already lost control and was spinning wildly towards the guardrail.

Ryousuke steered away on reflexes, missing the car seconds after it collided with the railing. It was then that he noticed his own car no longer responding to his steering.

"What the hell?!" he gritted his teeth as he fought the force of the steering wheel. "Turn!"

Ryousuke could feel the edges of panic beginning to creep up his spine as his view spun in slow motion through his windshield.

----------- Flashback -----------

The sun shone brightly in the car bay of the Takahashi house, illuminating the fluorescent color of Keisuke's FD.

"Keisuke-chan!" Giggled Tsugumi. "The sun makes the color of your car seem even more obnoxious than usual!" She laughed even harder as Keisuke's face turned into an annoyed scowl. Ever since the oil incident where he had wrecked his car, Keisuke had become more protective than ever of his FD.

Ryousuke and Keisuke's uncle and aunt were staying with them for an extended weekend to help the family celebrate Ryousuke's graduation from medical school. He would be the beginning of a fourth generation of doctors in their family. At times he wondered if his own father was likewise pressured into the profession. His younger uncle was a successful businessman in Hong Kong and his other a teacher at the university in Tokyo. His thoughts were disrupted by Tsugumi's prompting for them to start a badminton match in the back yard.

Graduation was a mere two days away and for the first time in his life, Ryousuke felt unsure of himself. The winning simulations that he could create for racing could not be rendered for his own life. The thought was extremely agitating.

"Will Keisuke play with you instead?"

Tsugumi made a face. "He complains to much when he loses."

Ryousuke finally gave in to the persistent tug on his sleeve and followed his cousin to the net in hoping that, if anything, physical activity would take his mind off of racing and school for at least a brief amount of time.

----------- End Flashback -----------

The back of the FC slammed into the guardrail, painfully jerking Ryousuke in his seat. The seatbelts dug into his skin as he felt the guardrail strike again. Ryousuke winced at the pain of hearing the sound of metal tearing from his car. The second blow shattered the glass on the driver's side, sending small shards cascading down the side of Ryousuke's face. The entire door followed and he could feel hot, white pain along the right side of his body. Somewhere between anger at his inability to control his vehicle and the blinding pain the impact, Ryousuke could feel his senses clouding.

The car hurled finally to the other side of the rode towards the mountain, closer and closer, until all that was left of Ryousuke's vision was covered in darkness.

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information courtesy of Initial D World

Thanks so much for reading! This is my first fanfic and I would really appreciate some feedback. I try to stay at least three chapters ahead of myself and I know that this chapter was very short, but the next ones are already finished and I assure you they are longer. Also, please forgive my inconsistencies and ignorance when it comes to cars, driving, and Japanese culture. I know I have a lot of room for improvement. I also don't know too much about cars, but I love the show and I am definitely learning with every episode I re-watch :P. Thank you and enjoy!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

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Takahashi Kiyori rubbed her temples as she peered outside the window. It was past midnight and her oldest son had not yet returned home. It was not unusual for either of her sons to be out all night, but for some reason, there was an unsettling feeling in her stomach tonight. The sound of someone tripping over the top stair and a string of curses attracted her attention.

"Keisuke!"

A blonde head poked sheepishly through the archway. "Hai?"

"Do you know what's keeping Ryousuke?"

Keisuke looked at his mother with an odd expression on his face. "Probably still on Akagi driving. Why do you ask?"

Kiyori let her shoulders fall. "I don't know. I'm just worrying like mothers do."

Her younger son chuckled. "He is almost twenty-five years old and I can't recall a time in the past year when he's gone out driving after dinner and has come home before midnight." Keisuke paused to observe the weather and added, "rain or shine."

Kiyori smiled weakly. "I guess you're right. I'm just getting old I suppose."

Keisuke smirked. "You don't look a day over thirty-five." He recieved a smile and a small kiss on the cheek for his comment.

As his mother walked past him towards his parents' bedroom, Keisuke couldn't help but feel a bit uneasy about the weather outside. The rain was pouring down extremely hard. The last time he had seen rain even comparable to this was when Project D battled the combined team at Saitama. Thinking about that race reminded him of crashing his FD during the practice. The memory sent shivers down his spine. This rainfall was much worse.

He had no doubt in Ryousuke's ability to maneuver his car in any weather, but Aniki had seemed unusually agitated when he left home.

-----------

The first awareness that hit him was pain. He had been in accidents before, but never to the extent where he wasn't able to somewhat control the final destination of his vehicle. In those instances, Ryousuke was always able to walk away from the car with only minor scraps and bruises, mostly from the seatbelt and car door interior. At present moment, he doubted his ability to move even his finger.

He couldn't tell where the pain was coming from. It seemed to engulf his entire body from all directions, unrelenting and obscuring his thoughts and preventing his medical instinct from properly diagnosing himself.

Wetness was the second feeling that came to his senses. He could not yet gather the strength to open his eyes but he knew from the water pelting at his face that the front windshield of his car was most definitely shattered. The wetness was quickly turning into cold, however, as shivers rippled down his spine from his neck to his toes.

"At least I can feel my legs," he thought to himself, his medical schooling finally kicking in. "Always a good sign."

After moments of labored breathing, Ryousuke managed to crack open his right eye. He could tell that he was still in his car. As feeling returned to his torso, he could feel the restraint of the seatbelts adding unneeded pressure to his already painful chest.

"Labored breathing," he thought to himself, "most likely broken ribs, possible punctured lung…"

Ryousuke could feel unconsciousness tugging at him again. "Stop yourself," he commanded. He knew that a concussion was most likely on the list of injuries he had sustained and it was never good to give in to unconsciousness in such circumstances.

He searched his memory for answers. "I entered the corner and the other car was losing control! Some part of the wreckage must have gotten under my wheels, disrupting my steering and causing me to slide in the water. The rain most likely reduced the coefficient of friction between my tires and the road, rendering my brakes useless in an uncontrolled situation."

Ryousuke tried but could not summon the strength to unbuckle his seatbelt. The rain was pouring even harder now. He managed to move his left arm to the buckle but could not depress it. The small movement, however, caused the car to shift slightly, jarring its front and sending an enormous amount of pain up Ryousuke's right leg.

"Broken," he muttered through gritted teeth.

For the first time in his life, Takahashi Ryousuke was completely helpless. He was lying prone in a car while heavy rain pelted his body. He took pleasure in racing because driving his car gave him control and confidence. With every situation, he could deduce a winning simulation. Why had it turned on him tonight?

He answered his own question. Since the day he first drove his FC home, Ryousuke demanded perfection from his car and his driving; perfect concentration, technique, reaction, and planning. When he started Project D, these values were further instilled into the minds of Fujiwara and Keisuke. Tonight, he lost his concentration and subsequently, his technique and reaction suffered as well.

The irony of the situation occurred to him suddenly. The White Comet of Akagi, leader of Project D and the Redsuns, lying unable to move in the middle of his home course because he couldn't follow his own instructions. Takahashi Ryousuke, the man who only gave assistance but never requested nor needed it, now needed it more than anyone else.

Just as darkness claimed him again, he thought he heard the familiar hum of the rotary engine approaching his location.

-----------

Shortly after his mother left him, Keisuke went to his room to prepare to sleep. "I wonder where Aniki is."

Kicking a path from his door to his bed, Keisuke threw his pants carelessly in the corner and followed it with his shirt. He looked at himself sideways in the mirror. Was the week of sake catching up with him around the middle? His mind drifted unconsciously to Kyoko.

"I wonder what she's doing right now," he pondered and looked at his telephone.

Keisuke quickly brushed the thought away as he climbed into the covers. Ryousuke never had to work for his physique or the girls who admired it, among other things. Sometimes it seemed like his brother was born with a natural tendency to accumulate muscle and discard fat, similarly, accumulating a following of girls without ever finding one to ever sway his concentration from racing or studies. Keisuke had to work a bit harder for everything else except the empty-minded girls. Kyoko had definitely been an exception; having the brawns to approach him without a group of giggling friends was evidence of her strong, independent character, qualities Keisuke admired in women.

Long ago, Ryousuke had taught him the meaning of dedication and how mindless distractions could damage the pursuit of goals, such as racing. Thinking back, Keisuke realized that his brother never really had a serious girlfriend, only escorting certain select women, selected by their father, to banquets, parties, and balls hosted by the friends of their family.

The more he thought about Ryousuke, the more Keisuke began to wonder. It was now almost one in the morning. Where was he? He had to be on Akagi. He could see out the window from his bed because he had been too lazy to draw the blinds. The rain was getting worse.

Keisuke also realized that his father had not come home; mostly working another overnight shift at the hospital. The government auditors had come to check up on the hospitals in the Gunma area so his father and his associates were working overtime to prepare all the necessary documents, and discard those which would cause unnecessary trouble.

Ever since Keisuke was young, his father had always indulged and spoiled him. It was startling the difference in parenting styles that Takahashi Ryoichi exhibited between his first and second born. Any outsider could tell that he was extremely proud of Ryousuke, but it seemed that whenever Ryousuke would enter the room or be within ear's shot of conversation, he would stop talking and quickly point out any unfinished work that Ryousuke still needed to do.

Takahashi Kiyori had always been Keisuke's disciplinary figure. She saw right through her younger son's innocent face and straight to his mischievous streak. She would always tell him that his eyes gave it away and that he couldn't hide emotions or intentions as well as Ryousuke could.

---------- Flashback ----------

"ANIKI! Come play with me!"

Twelve-year-old Ryousuke looked tiredly at his little brother. "I can't Otouto, I have to study."

Keisuke looked at him aghast. "It's SUMMER! You can't study NOW!"

"Otousan enrolled me in supplemental courses for the summer and my Algebra is due the day we get home." Ryousuke sat calmly under his umbrella while other children his age frolicked freely around him. Every hour or so, he'd sneak an envious glance towards the sailboats when his parents weren't watching.

Keisuke looked around for a way to get Ryousuke to play while Kiyori and Ryoichi looked on in amusement.

"Ottosan," sighed Kiyori, "don't you think you're being a bit hard on Ryousuke? He just got out of school."

He husband shook his head. "He has to work hard. He'll be entering high school in a couple of years and he cannot slack off before then if he wants to be accepted into Gunma's Medical School. If he does well until his seventeenth birthday, I will consider buying him a car. He knows this and that it comes with certain temrs."

"You know, some people would call that ransom or blackmail."

"It's not ransom if you never had it in the first place."

The slight interlude between them caused them to be completely unaware of young Keisuke sneaking up behind Ryousuke with his sand bucket full of seawater.

_Splash!_

"OTOUTO!" Ryouske hated being wet unintentionally. In fact, he wasn't fond of Keisuke's little surprises at all. Ryousuke threw his books down and chased a happily squealing Keisuke towards their parents. He overtook the younger boy midway and tackled him to the sand.

"All right boys, break it up," ordered Ryoichi.

Ryousuke immediate straightened up while Keisuke clawed at him a couple more times in an effort to prolong the horseplay.

Their father looked at Ryousuke sternly. "You know better than to loose your temper like that."

Ryousuke bowed his head solemnly and looked down at his feet.

"Don't let it happen again."

"Hai, otousan," was all Ryousuke said before going back to salvage his books.

Keisuke sat and pondered his freedom in contrast to his brother's chastisement until he felt a firm grip on his ear hauling him straight.

"You," whispered Kiyori, "are in so much trouble, young man."

---------- End Flashback -----------

With memories of Ryousuke running through his head, Keisuke couldn't sleep. Where was he? It was getting late; almost two and the rain was unrelenting. Maybe some of the other former Redsuns were also making runs on Akagi tonight. There had to be someone who actually enjoyed driving in this type of weather. He grabbed his cell phone and dialed Kenta's number.

"Hai…" a groggy voice answered.

"I'm sorry to wake you," apologized Keisuke, "but did you go driving tonight?"

"Hai, got back about an hour ago but I only made two full runs. The visibility was so bad that I turned around halfway through the third and went home." He paused and then added, "I also hate thunder; a small phobia of mine, you could say."

Keisuke sat up. "Thunder?"

"Yes, I heard it about halfway through and I turned around because I didn't want to have to go back down. The visibility was terrible."

Keisuke knew there was no thunder that evening. Suddenly, a sinking pit began to build in his stomach. "Are you sure it was thunder you heard?"

Kenta groaned. "I don't know. Something banged really loud somewhere above me…it was late and I was tired. What else could it be at that hour in those conditions?"

There was no response.

"Keisuke-san? Hello?"

Kenta rolled his eyes and hung up.

-----------

Ten minutes later, Keisuke was speeding towards Akagi in his FD. He had a terrible feeling about tonight. Maybe his mother was right.

"No! Stop your useless panicking. Aniki wouldn't approve."

---------- Flashback ----------

"I'm worried about this race," whispered Keisuke.

Ryousuke looked at his brother who was sitting nervously on top of his new FD. "It's normal to be nervous before your first race. What you must learn is to focus your attention closely enough on your opponent and course so that you leave no consideration for anxiety and consequently, no room for daft errors."

Keisuke looked up. How could he be so calm all of the time? Even during his first race, when Keisuke had snuck out of the house on his scooter to watch secretly in the trees, Ryousuke had kept a passive demeanor. Later, Ryousuke found him and gave him not only a ride home, but a run down the mountain. It was then that he had fallen in love with racing.

"Follow your line. The roadster is underpowered compared to your FD. You have a distinct advantage on the straight-aways but its lighter weight will even the competition during corners," Ryousuke stated matter-of-factly. "You are evenly matched with respect to vehicles."

Fumihiro walked to the brothers. "Ryousuke-san, we're ready."

He nodded and turned to Keisuke. "They've chosen to chase. If you drive as you usually do, you will not loose." Ryousuke gave Keisuke an affectionate pat on the shoulder and small push towards the car.

Keisuke won the battle and when the few people in the galleries had cleared, the two brothers practiced against each other on Akagi. Keisuke knew that Ryousuke wasn't pushing himself to the limit, but even then, he could not catch up. Aniki was pulling him to do better, increasing his speed only when he knew Keisuke could catch up by pushing harder.

----------- End Flashback -----------

"Damn the rain!"

Keisuke skidded past a corner and entered the base of Akagi. The rain was beginning to show signs of stopping but the roads were still ridden with deep puddles. The drive seemed to go on for ages.

Then there it was.

Keisuke felt his stomach tie in knots as he saw his brother's white FC wrecked in the middle of the road. As his car screeched to a stop, he dialed the emergency hotline with a shaking hand as he quickly unbuckled himself with the other.

"I…need an ambulance…NOW," he gasped, unable to free himself. His palms were sweaty and his entire body was shaking.

"SHIT! Open dammit!" he cried in frustration while the operator struggled to obtain directions.

"Akagi…halfway up…please hurry…dammit!"

He threw the phone down and unbuckled himself with both hands, the entire time damning bucket seat belts to the depths of purgatory. "OPEN!"

Keisuke didn't bother closing the car door as he scrambled out of his FD. Ryousuke's car was less than ten meters away but the rain and darkness blocked the extent of damage from view. As he neared the wreckage, Keisuke could feel his entire body start to shake.

Part of him wanted to run as quickly as he could while the rest of him feared what he would find. Was Aniki badly injured? How long had he been out here?

Keisuke tripped on large piece of metal and looking down, he was horrified to find the FC's driver side door on the wet pavement. Swallowing the bile that had formed in his throat, he continued and saw what resembled a hand hanging from inside the driver side.

He ran straight to the driver side and immediately saw Ryousuke unconscious but still strapped inside the seat.

Keisuke panicked. What was he supposed to do? "Pulse…pulse, pulse, pulse…"

He picked up Ryousuke's right hand and yelled out loud as the wrist fell at an unnatural angle. Keisuke, although possessing somewhat of Ryousuke's natural aficionado on the road, did not inherit any of the Takahashi medical genius or instinct.

"Where the hell do I find the PULSE?!" he screamed in frustration, tears pounding, threatening to break the threshold. Ryousuke's hand was freezing cold. Keisuke quickly un-strapped him from the seat and looked around for something to shield him from the rain with while waiting for the ambulance.

It was then that he first noticed the other car.

"Dammit I knew Aniki wouldn't have lost control!"

The crash must have had something to do with the Supra. Keisuke took a moment to wonder how the other driver fared, but the damage to the Toyota indicated that the possibilities were bleak and it was far enough away where Keisuke did not want to leave Ryousuke to examine it.

"The ambulance should be here any minute."

Unable to find anything to use as shelter from the rain, Keisuke tried his best to hover over Ryousuke's prostate form. Even under the light, he could tell that Ryousuke skin pallor was quickly paling. Keisuke felt desperately around the neck in search of a pulse – of any movement indicative of life.

He found none.

That was when the tears broke through.

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Thank you for the reviews! I love getting them (hint hint)! As always, I apologize for any Initial D inconsistencies, I am in an ever-evolving learning process and your reviews definitely help me improve.

I am proofreading Chapter Three again and should have that out sometime towards the end of this week or early next (whenever I finish the chapter I'm currently writing). Thanks again for your reviews and I hope you enjoy the story!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

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"Takahashi-Sensei?"

Ryouichi looked up from his paperwork "Nozomi-san! Welcome."

The orthopedic surgeon looked at his boss sympathetically through the doorway. "I just came back in for my night shift from home. My wife brought some miso soup for you. Please take a break and have some. The nurses tell me you haven't eaten since noon."

The director sat back in his recliner and felt his stomach begin to retaliate. "I guess so. Please thank you wife for me."

The doctor nodded. "I hear that your eldest son has just graduated from Gunma University."

Ryouichi beamed. "Indeed. That boy has finally grown up."

"I understand that both of your sons are quite fond of racing." Nozomi mused in a questioning tone, knowing full well what the answer was going to be.

The director laughed in spite of himself. "It was a small indulgence I allowed both of them when they were old enough. Keisuke took advantage of it and now is most likely headed to the professionals."

Nozomi dug in his memory from the conversation with his nephew the week before. "Isn't he the driver of the Mazda RX-7 FD?"

Ryouichi raised an eyebrow. "The what?" He laughed softly. "I have no idea what they drive; Ryousuke chose his own vehicle, Keisuke most likely based his judgment on his Aniki's, and all I did was pay for them both. Keisuke's car is an obnoxious yellow color though, suits his personality better."

"I thought that your older son, Ryousuke was the team's leader."

Ryouichi grunted and shrugged. "I wouldn't doubt it. Ryousuke has enough logic, intelligence, and ability to do whatever he wants extremely well. Keisuke inherited a hot temper, from my wife's side of the family of course," he grinned. "It's just good that Ryousuke made the right decision to go to medical school and become a cardiologist.

Nozomi half-smiled. How odd that Takahashi Ryousuke was not pursuing a career in racing. What a shame. He had met the elder son during his volunteer shifts in the hospital. In Nozomi's opinion, Takahashi Ryousuke had the temperament and knowledge to handle emergency situations better than a handful of the staff at Takasaki Hospital; he would make a very impressive physician. His nephew, however, could never stop talking about the great Takahashi Brothers of the Rotary Engine. Nozomi shrugged it off. It was none of his business what the director's sons did with their lives.

"It was nice speaking with you Takahashi-Sensei," sand Nozomi, exiting the room. "I must return to my duties."

"Likewise," said Ryouichi, looking with bleary eyes at the clock on the wall.

The phone rang on the wall and he went to answer it. It was his wife.

"Good Ev –" he started.

Kiyori's anxious voice stopped him cold. "Have you heard from either of the boys?!"

Ryouichi sighed. "They are not boys anymore Kiyori, and no, I have not. They often don't come home until morning, if at all."

"Ryousuke didn't come home at all and now Keisuke is gone too and he left his door wide open! He never leaves his door open!"

He could tell his wife was on the verge of hysteria. Women. "Please, Kiyori, calm down. I am sure they are fine. Ryousuke probably called Keisuke to go out for a drink or a drive or something." Even as the words left his mouth, he could taste the lie and he knew his wife would not buy it either. In this weather, he doubted that Ryousuke would have been the instigator behind nightly activities.

As predicted, Kiyori didn't buy it.

"Look Kiyori, I only have a little more work left and I will come directly home. If you get restless, I'm sure Tsugumi would love to keep you company."

Ryouichi heard her holding back tears as she said goodbye. His wife was not the type of person to overreact except when it came to Keisuke's misbehavior or bad wine. "I wonder what's wrong."

"Hmm," he thought to himself. "Back to work."

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Kobayashi Manaka groaned as she folded her forty-seventh towel. Having switched emergency room volunteer hours with her roommate to put in some extra hours at work last week, she was left with the much hated midnight shift. She looked at the clock – 3:00AM. Two more hours.

"Forty-eight…" she muttered under her breath. Oato-Sensei's organic chemistry class was more interesting than this. She was in the university to become a physical therapist, not a housekeeper. After working a twelve-hour shift at the restaurant earlier, all Manaka wanted to do was go back to the apartment she shared with two other friends and go to sleep.

Truth was, volunteering wasn't so bad during the day. There were times last year when Manaka even was able to run errands to the cardiology lab where the director's eldest son spent his mandatory volunteer hours. She had seen him around at the university, but never in classes; he was two years older and enrolled in formal medical school.

Sadly, Manaka realized that he graduated this year. Takahashi Ryousuke fascinated her; his intelligence in the classroom was renowned throughout the university and at one time, he even helped her with a difficult physics problem. News traveled around the school that he was quite a driver, but was becoming a physician out of his family's wishes. She fully understood the meaning of sacrificing for family and was a strong defendant in the virtue of giving up one's own dreams for the sake of family.

_At least he's sacrificing for a family that's still with him. _Manaka could feel the tears burning jealously behind her eyes. Subconsciously left hand went to cover her right forearm, where a deep, hand-shaped bruise was burning below the cotton sweater.

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Kiyori placed the phone in is holder and walked down to the kitchen for some hot tea. Ryousuke not coming home was one thing, but Keisuke rushing out the door was the trigger for the warning bells in her head.

Ever since they were little Keisuke had practically worshipped his Aniki. Ryousuke was surprisingly patient with the hot-headed and impulsive little boy, knowing exactly when to indulge him and where to set limits. They had become extremely close growing up together, especially though their shared passion for road racing.

She had discovered only a couple of years ago how famous her sons actually were. Tsugumi's school friend had brought a racing magazine to their house in hopes that Ryousuke and Keisuke would sign the cover. It had fallen out of her backpack when Kiyori went to move it off the couch. Driven by her own curiosity, she read the extended articles covering their successes and fan followings.

It came as no surprise to her the extent of their talent, especially Ryousuke. Parents weren't supposed to play favorites with their children, and she didn't when it came to measures of love, but Kiyori always felt more protective of Ryousuke because his father was so much harder on him than Keisuke. Everything her first born did, he had to do well, and to Ryouichi, well was never good enough. Ryousuke always strove to be the best and as a mother, she never had to worry about any aspect of his life except his racing and the potential dangers of the sport.

Ever since he was a child, Ryousuke would try to please his father. Ryouichi, she knew, was secretly very pleased with everything his son did. All of their acquaintances would hear the legendary stories of the brilliant Ryousuke, but the compliments stopped when the person himself was within earshot. Somehow, the need to please his father, which failed time after time, transferred to every other aspect of his life. Ryousuke now demanded perfection from himself and the greatest effort of those around him.

"He had to grow up too quickly," she sighed and rolled her eyes at the thought of her other son. Keisuke had taken advantage of Ryousuke's brief childhood and prolonged his own, happily indulged by his father.

When Kiyori had read to the part of the article covering their different personalities, she couldn't help but smile to herself. Ryousuke was her husband through and through, practically emotionless, proud, driven, and in almost all respects perfect. Ryouichi didn't begin talking openly with her until they were engaged to be married.

"I guess Ryousuke will have to meet a girl who he can love before he begins to thaw that icy exterior," she mused.

Keisuke, on the other hand, was energetic, hot-headed, and always in rapt attention of whatever his Aniki said. When they were young, he probably would have jumped off of a bridge if Ryousuke had told him to do so.

"They've both done so well for themselves," she sighed and turned to look out the window. Where were they at this hour? And what was this unshakable feeling in her stomach that kept telling her to get dressed?

-----------

Keisuke had no idea how long he had been kneeling over Ryousuke's form. He hadn't bothered to put on his watch and refused to leave his brother to check the one in his car. The clock in the FC was damaged and in his panic, he had no sense of elapsed time. His only concentration was on finding the evasive pulse.

Keisuke was once told that in death, people looked serene and peaceful. This was welcome information because Aniki looked anything but. Ryousuke's eyebrows were slightly knitted and his lips still held shadows of a grimace.

-----------

Pain. Pressure. Consistent pressure.

Ryousuke felt something poking at his neck. It was annoying and painful. He could feel the edges of consciousness coming back to him through the poking and tried his best to grimace, hoping that it would make whatever it was stop.

The poking stopped, mercifully. Just as he was about to relax, excruciating pain shot up his right arm. His body screamed in agony. Whatever had been poking at his neck had now moved to bigger bait.

"Uhhgg…st-t-top…" he whispered.

-----------

Keisuke thought he heard a ghost. Did Ryousuke just speak? He grabbed his hand harder, this time eliciting a louder exclamation from Ryousuke.

"Ot-tou-t-to…bro-k-ke-n…"

Perhaps the relief of hearing Ryousuke's voice was only upended by the sound of the ambulance siren from around the corner.

"Aniki, you're alive!" Keisuke felt his entire body relax and didn't even realize the ambulance personnel dragging him away from his brother. "Wait, no! I need to go with him!"

The man nodded as he wheeled a stretcher to the scene. "You can ride in the back with him. Are you family?"

"Yes, he's my Aniki."

He paramedic nodded. "That will make it easy. We're going to Takasaki Hospital. Could I have your names?"

Keisuke wanted to tell him that it wouldn't be necessary if they were going to Takasaki, but figured not to waste time. "Takahashi. He's Ryousuke, I'm Keisuke."

The paramedic's eyebrows shot up in recognition, but appropriately ignored the reference. He couldn't resist, however, shooting a fleeting glance at the wreckage in front of him, the full realization of the significance of the event hitting him like a rock in the chest. Could that really be Akagi's White Comet?

"Have you informed your parents?"

Keisuke shook his head and ran to his FD only to find that his phone, along with half of the car's interior, was soaked because he hadn't remembered to close the door in his rush.

"I'm sorry, but my phone –" he started but the paramedic quickly handed him his own.

As he walked back towards where Ryousuke lay, he dialed his uncle's cell phone.

"Moshi moshi?"

"Ojichan, please listen carefully," Keisuke started.

"Keisuke? Is it you?" Takahashi Toshiko, upon hearing the strain in his nephew's voice, was suddenly wide awake.

Keisuke was getting impatient, having just heard a low moan from where they were slowly adjusting Ryousuke's body to move him onto the stretcher. "There's been an accident. I need you to bring my mother to Takasaki Hospital immediately. She won't be in any condition to drive herself."

Toshiko felt his heart sink. "Is it Ryousuke?"

"Yes, please hurry." Keisuke hung up, knowing that his uncle would get his mother safely there.

-----------

So many hands. They all felt like knives stabbing into his body. Ryousuke knew they were there to help him but that didn't make them feel any better. Breathing was already incredibly difficult and painful. His entire right side felt disconnected, especially his leg. Ryousuke wondered how badly it was damaged.

"Oxygen mask, now!" Shouted one paramedic.

He heard another order a traction splint on his leg.

"Auughh…" the pain was unbearable. As he slipped back into darkness, he opened his eyes slightly to see Keisuke's windblown and wet face looking anxiously at him. Gathering his strength, he managed a slight nod, trying to convey the message to his brother that he was going to be fine.

He heard the countdown of the paramedics preparing to lift him onto the stretcher.

"San…"

"Ni…"

"Ichi…"

The pain ran through him like a knife without mercy and left his entire body in silent agony, begging to be put out of its misery. Ryousuke fully welcomed the comfort of unconsciousness as he slumped against the stretcher.

----------

"One hundred forty-three…"

She was now counting to stay awake. Manaka tugged at the sleeve of her white shirt. The darkening bruise around her forearm was again peeking out from under the soft, cotton material and she didn't want anyone to become suspicious. How had things come to their current situation? Would anything have been different if her parents were still around?

She remembered the happy summers of years past when she would bathe under the sun with her little brother while their mother fussed with them about sunscreen. And then in an instant, it all went away. She remembered getting up for school, slightly jealous that her brother was able to stay home with a cold, and returning him to the worst day of her life...

A nurse's urgent voice shook her back to reality. "Manaka-chan! Quick! We need you to bring these towels into the Emergency Room!"

Shutting the door on her inner demons, Manaka nodded, grabbed an armful of towels, and quickly followed the nurse in the direction of the elevator but instead took the stairs.

Doctors and nurses were already gathered in the entranceway as the ambulance pulled in. "Why so many?" she wondered. "How serious was it?"

Manaka was clearing the last four steps as the patient was wheeled in. Her breath caught at the battered sight of the man she had been thinking about only a short while ago.

Suddenly, her feet met air and she stumbled forward, almost dropping the towels, and would have fallen had someone not caught her. Manaka gasped as she looked up and saw the strained face of Takahashi Keisuke.

"Arigato," she said quickly, but he was already gone, racing after the stretcher carrying his brother.

-----------

"Moshi moshi?" A fatigued voice answered.

"This is Nakamura Kenta," the speaker paused, "I need to speak with Takumi. It's an emergency."

Bunta raised his eyebrow. What kind of emergency could these kids possibly have at this time of night? He walked across the hall to Takumi's room and shook his son awake. "Tell your stupid friend if he calls this late again, I'll drive to his house and beat him until a more appropriate hour."

Takumi slowly dragged himself out of bed and down the hallway. "Hai…"

"Wake up, it's Kenta," his voice was louder and more urgent now. Takumi tried to rub out the ringing in his ears. "You need to come to Takasaki Hospital immediately."

This woke Takumi up. "What happened?"

Kenta seemed nervous. "It's Ryousuke-san. I don't know anymore than that, but Keisuke-san said it wasn't looking good."

"I'm on my way."

-----------

Ryouichi lifted his head at the sound of hurried footsteps to see Nozomi run toward the stairs, followed by a string of nurses.

"Must be an emergency," he thought to himself. Other personnel followed and he decided to go down to take a look himself and try to lend a hand. The auditing papers were done and just needed to be organized into their proper envelopes; no more than ten minutes of work.

He walked down the stairs to the emergency room and was startled to see his brother at the base of the stairs. "Otouto! What are you doing here?"

The stricken look on his face told Ryouichi everything he needed to know. He walked into the corridor and saw his wife, pale and silent, being comforted by Keisuke. His youngest son looked at him with tearful eyes as he approached and took his wife's trembling form in his arms. "How bad?"

"I don't know, Otousan," Keisuke replied, his voice shaking. His entire body, still covered with wet clothing, was shaking.

"Can't you go in and look?!" cried Kiyori. "You're the director, for God's sake!"

He stroked her hair and tried to calm her with a steady voice, though his insides were churning. "The doctors here are well-trained and know what they're doing. Going in now would only disturb their work."

She wanted to slap her husband. How could he be so calm at a time like this?! Inside, Kiyori knew that he was right, making her blood boil even hotter.

"Where was he?" Ryouichi questioned.

His wife nodded towards his son, not trusting herself to speak.

"He had an accident on Akagi. We don't know very much more; the police are analyzing it right now," replied Keisuke.

Ryouichi frowned. "Where there any other cars involved?"

"There was another car on the scene, but the damage to Aniki's car seemed to have come mostly from the guardrail."

"Is the other driver here as well?"

Keisuke looked down at his feet. "Yeah," then paused, "he's in B4."

Ryouichi began suddenly comprehending the seriousness of the event. B4 was the pathology laboratory. He looked up at his youngest again and saw that he was struggling against the urge to cry.

"Keisuke," his uncle's voice interrupted him. "You'll catch a cold if you remain in those clothes."

Keisuke didn't hear him. He slowly slid down the wall of the waiting room and buried his face in his hands. Ryousuke would have known exactly what to do and say in situations such as these. Instead, all he could do was hold in tears. Even Tsugumi could do that much.

He looked around. His uncle was now on the phone with his aunt telling her to not come unless they called. "Do not wake Tsugumi, she won't let you stay in the house and I know you can't drive a manual transmission. We'll call you if…" he glanced at the grief-stricken family. "I'll speak with you later."

Keisuke knew what his uncle was going to say. "If something bad happens and you need to be here." The tears came then. He felt so ashamed of himself. His brother was lying injured in a bed somewhere and all he could do was sit and cry like a schoolgirl.

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Thanks for reading and please review! The reviews have been strongly encouraging (especially since I'm a first time fic writer). I head back to college on Sunday so I'm posting this now and will get Chapter four our when I'm settled in. I know I left a lot of stuff kinda ambiguous, but I promise that eventually, they will be resolved. Once again, reviews are gold!

CelicaChick: Haha...I know what you mean...I had a similar reaction during my proofreading and thought about deleting that line (or at least changing it) but I kept it in (among others) for the sake of comic relief (glad to see it worked:P).

Ryopon: I wish we could ALL latch onto the organic form of the hottie...sigh...imagine the catfights!


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

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The nurse gave the cursory information. "Twenty-four years old, 68 kilograms, male."

She stopped and looked at him hesitantly. "Nozomi-Sensei, it's the director's son."

Nozomi felt his blood run cold as she continued to scrub him for surgery.

Twenty-four; it must be the elder son. Takahashi Ryousuke. He dreaded what he would find in the surgical room.

As Nozomi entered and stared down at the young man below him, it was obvious that his patient had passed out from trauma. He remembered Ryousuke well; tall, confident, and without any of his father's looks except the strongly set chin and mouth. Even in pain induced unconsciousness, there was a firm resolve on his face.

"Get Harada up here. Two of his right ribs are broken and I'm afraid that they may have punctured a lung."

The nurse nodded and Nozomi went to the bottom of the bed to examine Ryousuke's leg. It was set in a temporary traction splint by the paramedics and as he removed it, Nozomi's experienced eyes could see a severe break of the femur and a disfigurement in the knee.

"Let's get started, people!" he shouted. "I want to make sure he's properly sedated before Harada arrives."

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Manaka sped down the hallway towards the operating room. "Nurse! I have the towels!"

The woman took them from her and quickly went inside the doors.

Manaka knew she wasn't allowed inside the operating room during an emergency. She stood as close as she could to the door in an attempt to listen to the conversation the doctors and nurses were having inside.

"Doctor, do you require any benzodiazepine?"

"…no time…hurry…" The movement in the area made the voices muffled.

The surgeon's voice seemed strained. "Give me isoflurane!"

"…can't…pieced lung…depression."

His voice became urgent. "Then give me some Halothane!"

Manaka covered her mouth with her hand. Isoflurane worked extremely fast to relieve pain, but caused respiratory and cardiovascular depression. Halothane, on the other hand, did very little for pain.

"Doctor! He's convulsing!"

Manaka gasped. His injuries must have been serious. They didn't have any time to administer any type of barbiturate before the anesthesia. "He must be going into stage two…"

"Excuse me, young lady," a nurse pushed her way into the room with a cart. As the door opened, she caught a glimpse of Ryousuke on the bed with nurses beginning to run wires and tubes through his body.

Manaka didn't know what to do or how to make herself useful. Slowly she began to walk down the hallway towards the stairs to the cafeteria. Perhaps some warm tea would help her nerves. She wanted to try and comfort the family, but it wasn't her job and she didn't want to intrude.

"Manaka-chan!" exclaimed Orimi, the cashier. "What are you still doing here?"

Sure enough, her shift was over. "Just putting in some extra hours."

As she sipped her green tea on the hard cafeteria bench, Manaka contemplated her own life. Unconsciously, her hand felt the bruise on her arm. When had it all come down to this? Tomorrow was her only day off during the week and she needed to go home and sleep so she could study, but she couldn't bring herself to leave the hospital. Manaka knew that patients such as members of the Takahashi family were kept in privacy and the information would never be revealed. Her only chance of knowing what happened to Ryousuke was to wait and hope to be in the right place at the right time.

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When Takumi arrived at Takasaki Hospital, Kenta and Fuhimiro were already present.

"What's going on?! Where is Keiuske-san?"

The other two men looked at him with lined faces. "We don't know. The family is in the waiting room with the doctor and Keisuke is with them."

"Does anyone know how he's doing?"

Fuhimiro shook his head. "The doctors are still working on him and no one's come out yet. We'll know as soon as the family's informed."

"Fujiwara, thank you for coming." Keisuke's tired voice came from around the corner.

Takumi put a hand on his arm in silent support.

Keisuke wanted to assure the young racer that his brother would be fine, but truthfully, they didn't know anything. Ryousuke wouldn't have approved of false assurances.

"Keisuke-san," asked Kenta, "where is your FD?"

Keisuke then realized that it was still sitting in the middle of Akagi. "It's on the mountain pass."

Fuhimiro hesitated. "Do you think it's wise to leave it there?"

"Probably not," admitted Keisuke, "but I can't leave Aniki and my family right now."

"Fumihiro-san and I could get it for you if you'd like," offered Takumi. He knew that Keisuke probably wouldn't normally let other people drive his FC, but under this circumstance…

"That would be helpful," said Keisuke, fumbling for his keys. "Damn. I left them in the ignition."

"It's fine," said Fumihiro. "We'll take my car and pick it up there."

"Here, take my license, just in case there are police and they won't let you drive it away."

Takumi looked at his old teammate with questioning eyes. There was no doubt in the logic of Keisuke's statement. "Just like Ryousuke-san." Takumi whispered to himself. Keisuke's voice held the same air of constant reason and confidence that Takumi had learned to depend on in his mentor. "We'll be back soon, Keisuke-san."

Keisuke nodded, " Arigato."

-----------

Nozomi brushed his hair away from his glasses with his sleeve as he operated on Ryousuke's leg. His right femur was broken and his knee was shattered. Thankfully, it was probably the worst of his injuries, or at least the one with the furthest reaching consequences. Harada had finished on his lung earlier and Nozomi had set the two broken ribs.

It was very fortunate that his younger brother had had the sense to call an ambulance so quickly. A couple more minutes in the cold and the lung would have collapsed. How would he ever look Ryouichi in the eye then?

He shook the thoughts out of his mind and returned to work.

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Fumihiro gasped as his car pulled up to the accident site, which was now occupied by a fire truck, three police cars, and what appeared to be an investigator's vehicle.

A tow truck arrived moments later and began the process of loading Ryousuke's wrecked FC onto its bed. Fumihiro and Takumi watched in horror as a side piece fell off. It looked totaled and there didn't seem to be much that could be done to salvage it. Was this really the end of the White Comet of Akagi?

Ignoring the thought, Fumihiro and Takumi looked around for Keisuke's car.

The FD had been moved to the side of the road and Fumihiro sighed in relief to find the keys still on the seat. As he handed them to Takumi, a policeman ran over to them. "Stop! What do you think you people are doing?"

He handed them Keisuke's license. "We're here to bring the car to Takahashi Keisuke, the owner. He's the victim's family and doesn't want to leave the hospital right now."

The policeman looked skeptically at the license and then at the two younger men. Protocol did not allow him to release the car but it wasn't yet registered on the scene and he didn't feel any reason to distrust them. In addition, the night had been taxing enough with numerous traffic accidents that he could really do without having to deal with recording another car. "That's fine."

Fumihiro was ready to drive back, but Takumi caught the policeman before he returned to the scene. "Pardon me, but could you tell us what happened?"

The older man rubbed his forehead with his hand. "The report just came back from the hospital regarding the autopsy of the other driver." He paused. "There was alcohol involved."

Takumi clenched his fists and ground his teeth in suppressed anger. The policeman continued. "Based on the skid marks," he indicated with his flashlight, "the investigators have concluded that the Supra spun out first and, when the Mazda turned to avoid it, a piece from the Supra somehow lodged against the tire and prevented it from turning, causing the second car to spin out of control." He indicated towards the tow truck, "we found some red paint on the white car, but not enough to indicate direct collision of the two vehicles, so we can only assume at this point that it was from the piece of the Supra which flew off. We'll have a physicist from the university confirm all of this tomorrow and report to the family then, when we know for sure what happened."

The policeman tucked his flashlight into his jacket. "We can't do too much more work until the afternoon when there is more light and until then, I'm going to have to shut down the pass." He shook his head. "It's a pity; I heard from the other men here that the driver of the white car was some sort of road genius."

Takumi and Fumihiro just stood on the wet street absorbing everything they had just heard. A small portion of Takumi felt relieved that it was not Ryousuke who had lost control initially. He was much too good for something like that. Additional anger quickly overcame the short-lived relief, however as he realized the complete irresponsibility of one man took his own life and almost killed another. He felt Fumihiro's hand on his arm.

"Fujiwara, we should really get going."

"Fumihiro-san," Takumi followed the other man to the cars, "do you think we should tell Keisuke-san what the policeman just said?"

Fumihiro shook his head. "Nothing except the alcohol involvement has been confirmed yet. We should wait until we know everything." He rubbed the stubble on his chin, "I don't think the family needs any more to think about right now except for Ryousuke's well being."

Takumi nodded in agreement and as he took the keys from Fumihiro and walked towards the FD, he realized that this would be the only car he had driven besides his own, with the exception of a single run with Itsuki's Hachi-Go and Iketani's S13. He couldn't ask for a better car than his Eighty-Six, but had always been curious about driving cars like the ones he raced against. "If only the circumstances were better…"

He turned on the ignition, motioned to Fumihiro, and drove back to the hospital.

-----------

The seconds ticked incredibly slowly as Keisuke sat in the small waiting room with his family. It was already 8AM and Takumi and Fumihiro had returned home, promising to return in the evening to give the family some privacy once Ryousuke awakened. Kenta had taken some further urging but respected the family's wishes and was hauled out by Matsumoto, who arrived shortly after Takumi and Fumihiro left to retrieve the FD.

The opening of the door startled him as a middle-aged man his father called "Nozomi" entered. He assumed that this was the surgeon who had been operating on Ryousuke.

The doctor moved to the couch opposite Keisuke's parents and gave a small smile of assurance. "His injuries were not life-threatening, so that is a worry we will not have to deal with."

Takahashi Kiyori began to silently cry with relief. It was her brother-in-law who quietly offered support as Ryouichi kept questioning the doctor. "Please, Nozomi-san, tell us everything. I think all of us," he looked around at his family, "would like to know without being spared any details."

The other doctor nodded and opened his clipboard. "The major injuries consisted of a pieced lung, probably incurred when the ribs on the right side of the chest were broken by the impact. Thankfully," he said, "he was brought here in time so the lung did not collapse."

At this point, he gave a nod to Keisuke, who, in listening at rapt attention, barely noticed the look of gratitude the doctor gave him.

Continuing, Nozomi added, "As expected in these situations, there was a mild concussion and neck strain, neither of which will cause anything but some headaches and nausea when he awakens. The worst case scenario is a small series of migraines, but it's very unlikely."

Ryouichi knew what was coming. At their hospital, it was customary to first inform the family of the injuries which posed a threat to the patient's life. These were followed by the less severe injuries, and lastly, the less severe injuries which posed no threat to life, but could potentially affect the quality of it.

"Please," the aged man asked, "continue."

Nozomi nodded. "Ryousuke also incurred a hairline fracture of the wrist, which we set and should heal fine within four weeks time." He took a deep breath as the family held theirs. "I'm concerned about his right leg."

Kiryori gripped her brother-in-law's hand in her left and her husband's in her right. "What do you mean? I thought none of his injuries were life-threatening?!"

Nozomi nodded. "They aren't, but his right femur was badly broken, and being the biggest bone in the body, could take a great deal of time and physical therapy to heal. In addition, his right kneecap was basically shattered and we will have to perform another operation within two weeks to place pins and repair the damage. We may need to consider prosthetics and an arthroplasty."

"As for his femur, I've decided that, combined with the knee injuring, a traditional plaster cast will not suffice." He handed the clipboard to Ryouichi, who ran his eyes over the written prognosis and procedure referrals. "I'm going to recommend intramedullary nailing, which is basically the insertion of titanium pins in his femur to act as an internal splint. They usually reduce healing time so that we can exercise the knee as soon as possible with weight bearing exercises."

Keisuke buried his face in his hands. There was a pause in the air, as if the doctor had not finished with his prognosis.

He hadn't. "Both injuries to his right leg will require a great deal of physical therapy, especially if the arthroplasty is required. We would need to speak with a physical therapist to be more specific, but I would say about a year without the arthroplasty and with it…" Another pause.

As his mother began to cry again, Keisuke met his father's gaze and, understanding the unspoken request, went to comfort her while silently allowing his father to further question the doctor privately in an effort to not upset his wife even more than she already was.

While his mother cried silently on his broad shoulders, Keisuke stroked her short, graying hair and whispered small words of comfort that he could not yet offer himself.

As Keisuke looked up, the doctor slipped out of the room and the two older men walked towards their corner. He released his mother to his father and spoke with his uncle.

"They're cleaning and wrapping him up right now, then moving him to a suite on the fifth floor," whispered Toshiko.

"Ojichan," Keisuke whispered urgently, "what aren't you telling me?"

The older man rubbed his brow and took a deep breath before continuing. "The damage to his knee was extensive. Your father would know more, but from what I understand, with the damage done to the femur, no amount of physical therapy may be enough to restore it to full mobility if an arthroplasty is required."

Keisuke swallowed. "What is an arthroplasty?"

His father spoke to answer his question. "It's the replacement of the knee with a prosthesis. They cut the ends of the femur and tibia and the undersurface of the knee cap to fit the prosthesis in."

Seeing a look of confusion in his nephew's eyes, Toshiko gave his brother a look to cut the medical jargon.

Ryouichi's shoulder's drooped, knowing that the only other person in his family who would appreciate his medical explanation was lying unconscious in the operating room. "Normally, healing from such an operation would not be too difficult, but with the damage done to his femur, he cannot place any weight on the leg, which does not allow for proper strengthening of the knee during physical therapy. The knee will heal faster than the femur, even with the pinning method Nozomi described, and by the time Ryousuke's able to properly exercise his knee, the optimal period of physical therapy will have already passed."

Keisuke felt his heart sink. "You mean…"

Ryouichi just gave his younger son a sad look and turned towards his wife again. Toshiko went to his nephew.

"I remember when Ryousuke was five years old and solemnly told me he was going to be a 'heart operating person.'" The older man laughed dryly to himself. "Since then, he's changed and I know that he is entering residency and fellowship towards the end of the year, but from what Tsugumi's told me, he's been having doubts about it." He sighed deeply. "I know how much he loves racing and am very aware how talented he is."

Keisuke only nodded. "Of course, but what does this have to do…"

"I know," his uncle interrupted, glancing past his nephew to his brother, "that Aniki has never approved of Ryousuke doing anything but medicine." He looked again at Keisuke. "Understand, Keisuke, that your father may not be the only wall standing in his path now, and this one is beyond anyone's power to control."

The true meaning of his uncle's words hit Keisuke like a wall of bricks. "No…"

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I hope you enjoy this chapter. I have sorority rush this week so I wanted to post this now in case I forgot later. The next installment should be done no later than the weekend, possibly before. Your reviews are REALLY GREAT and they help drastically in speeding up my own proofreading process for the future chapters. I like to read what people have to say about my old chapters and use those comments to either enhance or reduce aspects of the new ones that I've finished, but not yet posted. So keep them coming! Thanks so much! You've been awesome readers.

CelicaChick: Haha...I meant that with the emotional and physical torture that we are putting our favorite character through in our stories...he won't be alive to re-enter the actual anime world! I love Ryousuke and would probably seriously consider cutting Initial D out of my life if he weren't in it. He's my favorite (Not to mention my two dimensional crush).

Jamerican: Thanks! I like Keisuke too, even his hot-headed cockiness (it has it's personal appeal). It contrasts well with his brother.

niema: I'm glad you like the flashbacks and I will update the summary as best I can...please let me know if there's more that I can do.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

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Ryouichi's hand slammed down on the table. "This is unacceptable!"

The policeman patted his old friend's shoulder. "Ryouichi-san, I'm sorry about what happened, but there's no more we can do."

"I want his entire family sued! I want formal charges! I want…I…" The older Takahashi sunk down in the chair in his office and buried his face in his hands.

"He's dead and has no family except a girlfriend who deeply regrets what happened to Ryousuke even in her grief." He paused to let his friend absorb the information. "We can only push these cases so far when the other person involved is dead."

Ryouichi nodded, "Thank you Sato-san. You've been of much help."

"Please give my best wishes to your family…"

The other man's voice regressed to a low mumble in the background. Suddenly, Ryouichi felt the need to be alone, to show emotion, to cry in the privacy of his own office under the supervision of nothing but the tank of angelfish decorating the sitting room.

Sato-san was taking a great deal of time leaving, but in time he left, and as Ryouichi closed the lock on his office, he could already feel the tears coming from his eyes. As he lowered his aging, fatigued body down onto the couch, he began to cry. He knew that his son was in no danger at all of dying, but the thought of strong, intelligent, and motivated Ryousuke being crippled, walking the rest of his life with a limp, it was too much for a father to bear.

"Father," he thought bitterly to himself. "Some father I have been." It was true, no matter how he viewed the situation. He was a terrible parent. When Ryousuke announced his intention to be a doctor just like his father while he was still in pre-school, Ryouichi had taken it seriously. He had beaten down a childhood whim and turned it into an adolescent nightmare. He had taken something his son loved and turned it into an obligation. He had indulged his son in something great and taken away the possibility of ever reaching his full potential. Mortified, Ryouichi realized that he had become his own father.

He looked down at the mirrored coffee table and turned away. Men weren't supposed to cry or show any outward signs of weakness. He went to wash his face and join his family upstairs.

-----------

His stomach was churning and his eyelids felt like lead plates. A dull throb replaced the formerly sharp pain in his right side, thanks to what Ryousuke quickly identified as the work of narcotic analgesics. His throat felt painfully dry.

Ryousuke made a concerted effort to open his eyes, his entire body straining under the stress of the exertion. The effort was rewarded with blinding white light, further intensifying the dull throb at the base of his neck.

Keisuke, after sending his parents downstairs to the cafeteria, had dozed off on the side of his brother's bed. It was almost evening and the members of Project D had come and gone after paying their respects. Keisuke went home briefly to shower and change, knowing that Ryousuke would be well cared for. His parents had refused to leave his brother's side and it took half an hour of convincing by Tsugumi for them to even go to the cafeteria for food. His uncle and family left that day so Tsugumi could go to school for the last two weeks, promising to return later tomorrow evening.

Ryousuke finally attempted once again to open his eyes and flinched at the light, a slight movement, but enough to wake his brother.

"Aniki!"

Unable to speak, Ryousuke tried to focus on Keisuke's anxious face.

"Don't try to speak, Aniki," Keisuke said, "there's a tube down your throat to help you breathe. I'm going to get a nurse! Don't die while I'm gone!"

Moments after he left, Keisuke returned with a doctor and three nurses. Their voices became a blur as he slipped back into unconsciousness, but he could hear the doctor mention something about removing the tube. Thank God…

Hours later, when he awoke the second time, opening his eyes was not as hard of a task, and once he was able to do so, he saw his entire family hovering over him.

Kiyori was the first to speak, "Hello darling, don't try to talk, and we'll get you some water and ice." She dabbed the corners of her eyes, "You'll be fine, honey. Don't try to move."

Events came back to him and he looked down at the rest of his body. His chest felt encased and he was positive the hospital gown was covering more than just skin. His right arm, resting on his stomach, was encased in a removable cast to the elbow and his leg, wound from toe to hip in heavy white bandages, was suspended in traction. "What ha…" his voice was an incomprehensible croak.

His mother quieted his inquisitions by giving him a straw. Gratefully, he let the cool liquid chill his parched mouth and throat. When he spoke, his voice was still a raspy whisper. "What happened to me?"

Kiyori looked to her husband, unsure of how much to say. He took over, "You were in an accident."

Ryousuke nodded. "I remember. A red Supra. Is the driver injured?"

The family was silent and all stared down at their hands for a moment, unspeaking. Ryousuke understood.

A nurse came in to change the IV bag. "Good to see you awake," the crow's feet at the corners of her eyes creased in a genuine smile. "We're going to increase the concentration of the pain medication to compensate for the swelling in your knee."

Ryousuke nodded. "Arigato."

"Don't try to speak, dear," said his mother while brushing an errant hair from his forehead. She had told him last week that he needed a cut but he preferred to wear it a bit longer than his brother.

Ryousuke didn't listen. "What happened to me?" This question was directed towards his father.

Ryouichi hesitated before giving his some a censored version of the events. "Your lung was pierced by a broken rib and you have a mild concussion, which is probably causing some nausea right now. You have a hairline fracture of the wrist, but it will be fine in a matter of weeks."

"What else?"

"Your leg was badly damaged at the femur and patella. We need to operate on it again in a couple of weeks when the rest of your body is better prepared."

Ryousuke knew that there was something his father was not saying, but wisely, he chose to rest and question Keisuke later. He nodded and attempted a smile at Keisuke, who towered eagerly over his mother from behind.

"Tired…"

Kiyori nodded. "We understand. Just sleep…we'll be here when you awaken."

Not having the strength to tell them to go home, Ryousuke allowed himself to once again fall into a deep, drug-induced sleep.

----------

"Manaka," said her roommate from the kitchen, "did you want any dinner?"

She snapped awake. Damn, she had fallen asleep again. At this rate, she would never be able to study for summer school. She had stayed at the hospital for an extra two hours the evening before, wanting to know the final prognosis of Takahashi Ryousuke. When five in the morning rolled along and there was still no word, she gathered her bag and left for home in her old, grey Civic that she could barely drive.

"Manaka!" Kioko was getting very impatient. "Are you hungry?"

Manaka strolled into the kitchen and grabbed a rice roll. "Thanks. Did anyone call for me when I was gone?"

"Of course," replied Kioko, "is there a night when Kintaro doesn't call you?"

Manaka nodded and went to grab the telephone.

He answered on the second ring. "Moshi-moshi?"

"Kintaro? It's me, Manaka."

"Where were you last night?" As usual, his voice sounded gruff and slightly accusatory.

She was calm in her reply, "I was at the hospital working Tamiko's shift."

"I wanted to see you last night."

"Kintaro, you know tired I am after one of the evening shifts," Manaka sighed, knowing that her plea was falling on selfish, deaf ears. "We can't be together every night."

"Of course we can," he argued, a bit roughly. "I'm coming over now."

"I have to stud—" The phone clicked and a dial tone came on again.

She threw the handset against the couch pillow in frustration. Kintaro had no perception of how difficult physical therapy training was. After failing at obtaining a business degree from Tokyo University, he had made a name for himself dealing exotic imported cars for his father's wealthy clients. He never needed to worry about money; his family owned a large chain of hotels in the Osaka area and had connections ranging from textile factories to software companies.

"Is that obnoxious boyfriend of yours coming over again?" asked Kioko.

Manaka nodded. "I'm sorry, I tried but he didn't listen."

"You know, Tamiko and I have talked about this," said Kioko, "and we both think you're too good for him. All he does is upset you; I don't understand why you're still with him. Just end it!"

"I don't know," sighed Manaka. It wasn't that easy. She had rehearsed many times the words she would use to end their so-called relationship. Truth was, ever since her first attempt months ago, Kintaro had become increasingly suspicious and had gotten violent, especially when alcohol was involved. Manaka's hand went unconsciously to her arm again.

Kioko rolled her eyes and turned on the evening news.

"…accident on Mt. Akagi involving two cars last night due to the heavy rain. One of the drivers was proclaimed dead at the accident scene and the other was sent to Takasaki Hospital, reported to be in serious, but stable condition."

Manaka's ears perked at the announcer's words.

"Hey, weren't you there last night?" asked Kioko, who was quickly quieted by a wave of Manaka's hand.

The announcer continued. "The identities of the two drivers have not yet been released. Police Chief Sato-Sempai reported that there was not a direct collision and that there was alcohol involved…"

Manaka heard no more. She sat on the sofa, nibbling her rice bun, wondering at the severity of Ryousuke's injuries. A heavy knock on the door disrupted her thoughts.

Kioko groaned. "I love you, but I hate him." She got up and grabbed her knitting hamper. "I'll be playing grandma until he leaves or you guys go to your room."

All Manaka could do was offer a small smile and head to the door. She was greeted by rough kiss and the usual request for food.

"Just look in the refrigerator," she told him. "Anything with an orange lid is mine."

Manaka opened her second year muscle anatomy textbook for some light studying while Kintaro satisfied his appetite. Although she was not enrolled in formal medical school, her classes were challenging as well and her field studies were more intense, hence the need for summer classes. She hoped to graduate earlier and save enough money to quickly repay the debt that had been hanging over her head like a dark cloud these past few years.

"Why do you study like that?" Kintaro asked, wiping bean paste from the corner of his mouth. "I'm perfectly happy where I am and I don't work nearly as hard as you or any of the other medical school preps."

"You just don't understand."

He smirked. "Of course I do," his voice became gruff and he moved onto the couch. "Now come show me how much you love me."

She smiled, gave him a light kiss and returned to her book.

He grunted. "Now that's _not_ how you treat someone you love." He edged closer to her and roughly grabbed her text away.

"Hey!" The book fell onto the floor with a small thud and he grabbed her shoulders and pinned her petite body to the edge.

"Kintaro-kun," she began, "not today, please."

His face darkened into a scowl. "Why? Am I not good enough for you?" He pushed her harder into the couch. His calloused fingers dug deeply into her shoulders.

"You're hurting me."

"I'm treating you better than _any_ of those preps at your little university would treat you."

Manaka knew from experience not to argue a moot point. Kintaro was angry and it was better to just give him what he wanted. She could feel the bruises already forming on her body from where his hands gripped her like steel. "Please let go of me."

He shoved her into the sofa. "I'm leaving. You've ruined my mood tonight, but I'll give you another chance tomorrow." He smirked at her, "Remember, Manaka, to not bite the hand that feeds you."

Manaka silently looked away, ashamed and not daring to move. It wasn't until the door slammed shut and she heard the peeling of his imported sports car exit the parking area that she allowed herself to deeply exhale a sigh of relief. Kioko poked her head through to door and looked sympathetically at her roommate. "He's not good for you, Manaka-chan. You need to do something before you get hurt. I mean it."

Manaka looked away in shame, realizing that her friend had heard their entire interlude, and rubbed her sore arms. Kintaro didn't used to be this way when they first met; he had been openly available, receptive, and sympathetic to her situation. By the time she realized his real character and true motivation behind his offer to help, it was too late to turn back. The damage had been done and she was bound to him inevitably, at least until she finished school and could repay him. He capitalized on this advantage and used Manaka in ever way he could, being possessive and jealous while simultaneously flaunting his escapades with other women.

Pushing the disturbing thoughts from her head, Manaka returned to her studies.

-----------

It had been a week since the accident and Ryousuke was healing nicely. The doctors had decided to keep him hospitalized until his next surgery. Once his lungs were sufficiently healed, his mother began to give him a little more space and his father returned to work. Keisuke, however, visited constantly whenever he wasn't driving.

Ryousuke's first request was for his laptop computer, which Keisuke quickly obliged him by bringing the next day. He found that typing with only one hand was extremely difficult, especially since the immobilized appendage was his dominant one. Still, that did deter him from his pursuits.

Although Project D had formally ended, teams who came to the Akagi area often challenged Keisuke and Fujiwara together, wanting to boast that they could beat both of Project D's former aces. Ryousuke, up until the accident, still served as the mastermind behind strategies and still advised the drivers in their technique.

On that particular afternoon, a newly formed team from Chiba had come to Gunma to challenge Keisuke on Akagi's downhill before proceeding to Akina's downhill. At first, Keisuke had wanted to withdrawal from the battle, but at his brother's insistence, he reinstated it and it was schedule for the coming weekend.

"Aniki," asked Keisuke, "is there anything I can get you?"

Ryousuke was tempted to ask for a functioning right hand, but instead shook his head.

Moments of silence later, he looked at Keisuke. "Last week, when father told me the extent of my injuries, I knew he was hiding something."

Keisuke looked at his hands. "Aniki…"

Ryousuke continued. "I know that I will most certainly need an arthroplasty."

Keisuke nodded mutely.

"I cannot properly exercise the muscle in my knee required for a complete recovery with the damage also done to my femur and, with these circumstances, there is an eighty percent chance that the damage will permanently affect my walking, among other things."

Keisuke nodded again, marveling at his brother's calm analysis.

Ryousuke looked at him with resolve. "I've accepted this."

"But Aniki!" Keisuke jumped out of his seat. "Don't you understand? You won't be able to race anymore!"

Ryousuke looked at his brother. "Otouto, if I had the intention of racing as a career, then I would not have gone to medical school."

"How can you be so damn calm about this?! There is still a chance if you don't give up!" Keisuke didn't know what to do to make Ryousuke understand the full ramifications of his injuries. He knew, however, that inside, his brother had already considered all of the possibilities.

"I am calm because I can still be a good physician with a damaged leg and that I will still be able to walk," Ryousuke said, casually closing the lid on his laptop. "I will not be the professional racer in this family. You will be, and that is why we must now go over your attack strategy for the upcoming battle."

Keisuke was amazed. Even after everything that happened. "But Aniki, you need to rest."

"My body is fatigued but my mind is functionally perfectly normally," replied Ryousuke. "Now, your opponent is driving a Subaru WRX with a twin turbo. The driver is relatively new, but arrogant. You can capitalize on this advantage by…"

The rest of the afternoon was spent talking about the upcoming battle. In truth, it helped both of the brothers by re-establishing a sense of old familiarity into their relationship.

-----------

That same afternoon, Takahashi Ryouichi nervously walked into his employee's office.

"Welcome, Takahashi-Sensei," Nozomi quickly got up to shake his employer's hand. "Please, have a seat."

"Thank you," the older man said. The past few days had greatly tolled on Ryouichi. The lines which ran along his face creased even more deeply than before. Sleep refused to come to him at night and sometimes, his wife would find him drinking coffee in the kitchen at three in the morning, waiting for Keisuke to come back from driving on Akagi.

Kiyori understood; her husband was worried that recent history would repeat itself, that what happened to Ryousuke could happen to Keisuke as well. It was a logical concern; Keisuke drove with more abandon than his brother, thinking instinctively rather than analytically.

Nozomi's voice drove Ryouichi back to reality. "Well let's begin, shall we? I know that this can't be pleasant for you and I apologize that you and your family must go through something like this."

"Nozomi-san," Ryouichi said, putting on a calm façade, "we're in the line of work where we see situations such as these happen to families on the hour. In the situation of life and its dangers, no one is excluded, not even the hospital director's family." He leaned forward in his chair. "Now please, tell me what we need to do so my son can come home."

Nozomi nodded. "His ribs and right wrist are healing very nicely and I do not foresee any problems with those. Harada-san sent me his report on Ryousuke's lungs and they are fine as well."

Ryouichi nodded, relieved that the internal injuries were progressing smoothly.

"After further evaluating his leg," continued the surgeon, "I've diagnosed one serious femoral fracture and in my analysis, I believe the best course of action is antegrade intramedullary nailing, which has over a ninety-five percent chance of restoring full mobility."

Ryouichi nodded. "What about the knee?"

Nozomi placed his clipboard on his desk. "We'll need to perform an arthroplasty."

Ryouichi knew that this was coming, but it didn't make it any easier on the ears. "When?"

"As quickly as possible. I would like to operate on the knee and the femur during the same period. Hatori-san has agreed to assist me and I believe that we can get this done." Nozomi secretly prayed that Takahashi-sensei would allow them to do so, knowing the additional risks of extended anesthetic treatment.

The older man nodded. "Do whatever you need."

"Thank you," Nozomi said. "The prosthesis was ordered three days ago and should be arriving tomorrow. I would like to plan the surgery for the day after."

"That's fine."

Nozomi continued. "I've also spoken with Ito-san and he's already preparing an integrative schedule of physical therapy sessions, beginning tentatively eight weeks after surgery when Ryousuke achieves bone-healing stability."

"Is that all?"

Nozomi nodded. "For now. I'll be in touch if there's anything else."

Takahashi rose. "Thank you."

Nozomi bowed and led him to the door. "He'll be fine. I know it sounds bleak, but there is still a twenty percent chance at a full recovery and if anyone can persist to achieve this, I believe Ryousuke can."

Ryouichi nodded and bid the doctor farewell.

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Whew! I really hope to be able to maintain comparable length such as this in the future chapters. School starts tomorrow and I am now an official pledge of the Kappa Delta Sorority (yay!)! I will (barring any unforeseen circumstances) be posting at least once a week, probably on Sunday. I have loved all of your reviews and definitely enjoy receiving them. They are EXTREMELY helpful and I would like to offer a MILLION nods of gratitude to all of you.

Additionally, I'm so happy that I haven't tripped all over myself with the medical stuff. I am indeed going to school for medicine; I'm a developmental psychology major with the intention of entering medical school to specialize in pediatric oncology. Everything I'm describing in this story, however, is not based on what I'm currently learning (I'm only a college freshman and we, unfortunately, are still talking about cells…blah…) so I will probably fumble and crash eventually so please forgive me when it happens! Is anyone else here in school? What are you studying? Just curious :).

Once again…thanks so much for the great reviews! Keep them coming!


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

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Kyoko maneuvered her black FC into a parking space at Family's restaurant. Keisuke's car was nowhere to be seen.

She looked at her watch and realized that she was ten minutes early. Keisuke was always ten minutes late to anything unrelated to racing. She couldn't complain though, she had been looking forward to this date with her darling since two weeks ago.

Twenty minutes passed. Then thirty.

As an hour rolled by and the familiar yellow FD had still not shown up, Kyoko could feel the tears begin to roll onto her cheeks. "Darling has decided not to come. He doesn't want me after all."

She struck the wheel in frustration. "I was so naïve to think that someone like him could be interested in someone like me."

-----------

Tsugumi was doing calculus on the desk in Ryousuke's hospital suite while her cousin poured over racing schematics from the bed. Ryousuke had seen no reason to end their tutoring sessions and Tsugumi was eager to spend as much time as possible with her favorite cousin.

"Ryousuke," she asked, "could you help me with these second derivatives? I don't understand how to tell whether it's concave up or down."

He motioned for her to bring the book to his bed and easily explained the process, simplifying as much as possible in order to make it more easily understood to Tsugumi. "So once you find the coefficient from the second derivative, you can tell which is up or down by the sign."

She nodded. "So if it's positive, it's concave up?"

He nodded and smiled lightly, resisting the urge to grimace when the removal of her textbook jolted the traction holding his leg in place. The surgery was scheduled for the next day and he would be home only one week after to recuperate before physical therapy sessions began. The thought of being away from the intense glare of the overhead fluorescent lights was a warm thought.

Ryousuke kept a watchful eye over Tsugumi while he pondered the schematics of the Subaru WRX driven by a team from Chiba called The Nightriders. He wanted to ensure that there would be no surprises in store for Keisuke when they raced on Saturday, especially since this would be the first race in his brother's quickly ending amateur career where he would not be present.

On a whim, he also checked his Project D email. As usual, hundreds of fans sent messages, most of which were girls asking personal questions such as, "do you have a girlfriend?" or "do you prefer girls who drive?" and so on. Others were just impolite. And then two caught his eye. He saved them before closing the window displaying their contents.

Tsugumi finished her homework and took the chair beside Ryousuke's bedside, peeking over his shoulder at the emails checked for deletion. "So _do_ you prefer girls who drive?"

He clicked delete and calmly shut the screen in time to give his cousin a lightly disapproving look. She stared back innocently, batting her eyelashes. "I have no preference," he replied.

"Really?" she sounded surprised.

He nodded. "If I dated, it would be based on the grounds of personality and common interest. I have other interests which don't include driving."

"Uh-huh…" she didn't sound satisfied. "_If_ you dated, that is. When was the last time you had a girlfriend?"

"The first grade," came a voice through the doorway. Keisuke walked in, closed the door, and removed three bags of McDonalds food from inside his jacket. "You guys better thank me. I almost got heat stroke from the steam!"

Tsugumi squealed at the thought of not having to bear down more cafeteria food and Ryousuke only raised an eyebrow. "That's not allowed in the hospital; it has a tendency to put people in here."

Keisuke unwrapped a chicken sandwich, raising an eyebrow at what he perceived as his brother's attempt at humor. "They don't know what's good for their patients…or their patients' guests."

Ryousuke looked at the bag that was meant for him. Admittedly, he was tempted.

"Come on," cajoled his brother. "You know you want to. There's nothing wrong with your stomach and you _are_ supposed to build strength for the surgery."

Tsugumi squeezed ketchup onto the cardboard burger box. "What's healthy for the mind is healthy for the body."

"And it's white meat."

Ryousuke finally gave in and enjoyed a meal of chicken nuggets and an apple pie. "Is this supposed to be my last meal before going under the knife?"

Keisuke's mirth sobered down a notch. "Aniki, I'm sorry I didn't mean it that way…"

Ryousuke smiled. "I'm only teasing. Have you been practicing?"

Keisuke nodded. "Three hours yesterday at seventy percent to work on technique and corning with ten runs at eighty percent, like you said. My last time trial was good and Matsumoto is putting on new tires the day of the race so I'll have better grip. I think my older ones are wearing down."

"I've researched the WRX further and I believe this race will be more of a challenge than the team we defeated when Project D was in Chiba."

"But that team was supposedly the best."

Ryousuke nodded. "You must remember that the downhill was a victory due to a combination of the strategy Takumi adapted from the professional driver of the Todou School and the weight of his car."

Keisuke nodded.

"You do not have these advantages; your car is heavier than the Hacki-Roku, therefore we must adjust to compensate for them. Obviously, I will not be at the battle, but I've given instructions to Matsumoto and Fumihiro about tuning your FD."

Keisuke nodded again, noticing that Tsugumi was rolling her eyes and toying with the lettuce from her burger at the other end of the bed.

"There is something else," added Ryousuke. "The Subaru is not a twin-turbine like we were first led to believe."

"Is it naturally aspirated?" Keisuke asked incredulously.

Ryousuke shook his head. "It's a single turbine." He placed the food box back into his bag and handed it to his little brother. "If you remember, they are nice on straight roads and Akagi is flatter than the mountain pass we drove on in Chiba."

"I know, Aniki," answered Keisuke. "Iwase Kyoko's car was like that too, but it was very unstable when she made a mistake or hit a patch of rocks."

"You cannot count on the mistakes made by the other driver, Keisuke," Ryousuke said disapprovingly. His brother was not listening.

Even as Keisuke said her name words, he knew he was forgetting something. And then it came.

"Shit!" he leapt out of his seat and tore out the door like a hurricane at large, leaving his brother and cousin very confused.

"I wonder what he's up to," pondered Tsugumi. "Probably a girl."

Ryousuke made no comment and re-opened his laptop, frowning a bit at his brother's flippancy. There were two saved email messages for Keisuke, one from a professional team in Tokyo and another from Osaka. They both agreed that he was not yet ready to race professionally yet, but they were willing to come to the next couple of battles involving Keisuke to observe him before holding formal try-outs. It worked well with Keisuke's desire to train for another six months with his brother before leaving.

"That might not be so easily accomplished now," thought Ryousuke. The team liaisons were asking for battle dates and locations and Ryousuke quickly typed a note that said they would be notified when challengers came along. He didn't want to ruin his brother's chance by inviting them to the upcoming battle; too many factors were out of Keisuke's hands, and Ryousuke wasn't going to be there to compensate for them. No. This would be a mock try-out that Ryousuke would hold for his little brother to test his ability to work independently.

Now that Keisuke was receiving interest, Ryousuke knew that Fujiwara would not be far behind. The monetary sponsors were endless, beginning even before formal notification that Keisuke and Fujiwara would be going professional at all. Project D had been successful in that area as well.

Ryousuke remembered the hype; the months after he had graduated from High School where he was invited to try-out for Mazda Dominion, the Tokyo-based team funded by Mazda and Bridgestone Tire Company, Ltd. The coaches were overwhelmed by his talent and wanted to draft him immediately, but he declined. Medicine was more important than racing. Until now, he never even thought about how different his life would have been if he had accepted the position. Until now. The same team was now vying for his brother.

Tsugumi's voice interrupted his thoughts. "Are you scared?"

"Of what?"

"Tomorrow, the surgery, everything?"

Ryousuke closed his computer again and gave his younger cousin a small reassuring smile. "I have no reason to be."

She looked at him incredulously. "Why not?"

"I have properly trained and highly experienced doctors operating on me and worry will not have any positive effect on the outcome of events," his voice was calm and controlled, but beneath the surface, Ryousuke felt increasingly agitated.

"I see," Tsugumi said, marveling at her cousin's ability to logically evaluate every situation. He was hiding something though, and she knew it. Ryousuke's usually healthy complexion seemed sadly pale and even though it had only been a week since the accident, she could see that her cousin had lost weight; the chiseled features of his handsome seemed even sharper than before and there were circles under his eyes. Her father came in through the doorway at that moment, however, and announced that she needed to return home.

"How are you Ryousuke?"

"I'm doing well Ojichan," Ryousuke attempted to straighten up in the bed, but a jolt of intense pain from his leg quickly stopped him. This time, he could not suppress a small wince.

Toshiko immediately noticed the strain in his features and waved his nephew down. "Please, don't hurt yourself further," he smiled, trying to lighten the situation despite his inherent worry. He could see his daughter trying to hold back tears at seeing her usually strong cousin in such pain. In the corner of the bed rested a small collection of McDonalds wrappers; the deed screamed of Keisuke. "I'll hide the evidence before Ryouichi comes down and kills us all."

Tsugumi blinked back her tears and leaned over to give her cousin a small kiss on the cheek. "You know," she whispered lightly enough to avoid the ears of her father, "this isn't racing. You can't always determine what will happen by overanalyzing it."

They bid their farewells and when his relatives had closed the door behind them, Ryousuke pondered Tsugumi's words. Perhaps Keisuke was right, she _was_ getting more mature.

-----------

Even before he arrived at the restaurant, he knew she would be long gone. After all, he was more than four hours late. "Shit!"

Keisuke kicked the handicapped parking sign in frustration, finding it an easy target. Granted, a relationship was not in his plans at the moment, but Kyoko was a good friend and a very talented individual. Should he ever find the time…

"Shit!" The sign took another beating.

-----------

Takahashi Kiyori looked at the kitchen clock. The cook had finished preparing dinner an hour ago and she was the only one home to enjoy it while it was warm.

When the boys were young, the family always made it a rule to eat together. When Ryouichi was made director of Takasaki Hospital, he began coming home late and it was just her and the boys. As soon as Ryousuke graduated from high school, he was rarely home and Keisuke would begrudgingly eat for twenty minutes before finding a way to excuse himself in search of his brother or one of the many girls who flittered through their doorway during that time.

Kiyori was thinking of dismissing the cook now, since all of the food would be packed and placed in the refrigerator for later heating anyway. The phone rang.

"Moshi moshi?"

"Good evening, may I please speak with Takahashi-Sensei? This is Noriyazaka Nozomi from the hospital."

Kiyori was confused. "I'm sorry Nozomi-Sensei, he's not home. May I take a message?"

"It's fine," the man replied. "I will call back in a couple of hours."

"I'll let him know to expect your call," she replied, still confused. Where was he?

"Arigato."

As she placed the handset back in the receiver, Kiyori went over the many places were Ryouichi could have been and none of them seemed logical to her. Wandering back to the dining room, she straightened the tablecloth before walking towards the library in search of a calming book to accompany her bath.

As Kiyori walked through the hallways, she couldn't help but notice some of the pictures which were accompanying her on the journey. One in particular caught her eye. Ryousuke couldn't have been older than three or four at the time, which meant that Keisuke was around one year old.

After much convincing from her older sister, she and Ryouichi had taken the boys to a professional photographer. The session went surprisingly well, but at one point Keisuke had gotten a bit out of hand and started vying for Ryousuke's attention, who was more interested in his toy car than his drooling little brother.

The picture was candid and not originally meant to be developed, but when Kiyori saw the negative, she requested a large reproduction. In the picture, young Ryousuke, in his small western suit and clip-on tie, was holding the small white car with one hand and had the other on his Keisuke's shoulder. The younger brother reached for the car with one hand, using the other to support himself as he could not yet walk. The charm of the photo was, however, the facial expressions of the two toddlers. Even at the age of three, Ryousuke looked at his brother with a sense of protectiveness and his expression seemed almost passively didactic. Keisuke had a look of awe on his face, eyes shining, mouth wide open, with a hint of drool coming out of its corners.

Before she knew it, Kiyori was wiping a tear from her cheek. Despite the happy memory, it only brought back the comparatively terrible ones of recent times. Returning to the kitchen, Kiyori decided she needed a large glass of wine to accompany her bathing excursion.

-----------

"How long?"

The man looked at it and back at the older gentleman. "Three months at the earliest for the internal work. Another for the rest."

The older gentleman nodded. "How much?"

The other man punched some numbers into a calculator and whistled. "It will cost you…"

"I don't care; money is not an issue." He looked the other man in the eye. "Just get it done and call me on my office phone only."

-----------

When Nozomi walked into work the next day, he knew that it would be a long time before he could return home. Ten hours later, standing over Takahashi Ryousuke, he was running on complete adrenaline. The young man had fared extremely well due to his good health, despite years of smoking, an unfortunate habit catered by the Japanese society.

In the waiting room, Ryouichi sat with his wife, both holding a cup of coffee in an effort to stay awake and fight the cold caused by the air conditioning and inactivity.

Keisuke was outside the doors smoking a cigarette, trying to calm his nerves. The stress of the entire situation was really getting to him. He had a battle in two days, but driving was the last thing on his mind.

"I have to concentrate, though," he thought. "Aniki demands perfection and I will deliver it to show him Project D taught me something."

He tossed the half-smoked cigarette into the disposal and headed back inside to join his parents.

He was just in time to see the doctor coming into the room, removing his mask and eye goggles. "The operation was a success. We've successfully pinned the femur and placed the prosthesis into the knee."

The family sighed in relief. "And?"

"There's nothing else we can do until the bones are healed," Nozomi said. "Ryousuke seemed to be a very healthy young man before the accident. This increases his chances of a complete recovery."

Ryouichi shook the other man's hand. "Arigato, Nozomi-san."

Nozomi smiled sadly. "I only wish I could give you better odds. He's being transported to a suite in the orthopedics wing on level four. The anesthetics will probably keep him asleep until tomorrow around noon." He looked at the tired family. "I suggest you all go home and get some rest so when he wakes up tomorrow, you'll be alert to greet him."

Ryousuke, despite having had moments of consciousness, was not properly alert for an entire day.

-----------

Keisuke stood at the peak of Akagi with Fumihiro, Matsumoto, and Kenta awaiting the appearance of the Nightriders. There was an unspoken feeling of unfamiliarity due to Ryousuke's absence.

"Keisuke," said Matsumoto, interrupting his thoughts, "your car's been tuned according to the settings Ryousuke and I agreed on for the course and opponent."

Keisuke nodded. "Aniki said he gave you instructions for me."

"I wouldn't go as far as to call them specific instructions," he said, "but Ryousuke wanted to make it very clear that at one point, you will be chasing, and to not push yourself to the limit until you reach the last group of hairpin turns. Give the driver some time to relax and get confident; play a mind game."

Keisuke nodded.

"Ryousuke researched the group and decided that it would be best to conceal your potential even after you've passed the other driver and pull away at full speed only on the final straightaway."

He nodded in understanding. "Not giving your opponent a chance to recover." He threw his cigarette onto the ground. "Aniki always said that a badly timed techniques always worked against you."

Fumihiro nodded.

Keisuke recalled the words his brother had said to him before entering the surgical ward. "This race is about you because you can no longer rely on anyone else for direct last minute advice," Ryousuke had looked at him so intently. "In the professional racing world, you cannot depend on a personalized coach to guide you through racing. This will be a test for you, Keisuke, to see if you are indeed ready for the professional circle."

"I can do it, Aniki," Keisuke whispered to himself as he saw a group of headlights appear in his line of site.

-----------

Takumi walked up to one of the old Project D vans, which was now temporarily used for his and Keisuke's individual battles, as the FD and WRX lined up at the start. "This is different."

Matsumoto turned to the sound of the familiar voice. "Hai. This is the first time Ryousuke-san's not been at a battle, especially when Keisuke's racing."

Takumi nodded. He had come to rely heavily on the last minute advice given by Ryousuke, even though it made no sense until an event in the middle of the battle jarred his analytical skills into place.

Even though Project D was disbanded, its five main members and its leader had always come to either Akagi or Akina to support its two former aces in their individual challenges. In addition, Kenta would tag along if Keisuke ever raced.

The yellow FC and green WRX took off, the traction of the 4WD giving the second car an advantage, placing him in front of Keisuke.

The former members of Project D looked on at the retreating taillights. Takumi noticed then that a familiar black FD had just pulled into the lot. "Where do I recognize that car from?"

Kenta's voice interrupted his thoughts. "It's Kyoko-chan!"

Four heads turned to the direction of a young woman exiting the car. Takumi recognized her instantly. Her once short brown hair was longer, extending past her shoulders down the middle of her back and she carried herself in a more feminine manner. "I wonder if she's still racing."

Fumihiro shook his head. "She stopped about two months ago. I overheard Keisuke tell Ryousuke that she'll be attending Gunma University this fall to get a teaching degree."

Takumi nodded. Apparently a change in lifestyle didn't necessarily mean a change in car. He suddenly thought of Mogi; she was in school to for a teaching degree as well. Seeing her only weeks ago made him miss her more. Three more days until he went to pick her up to spend the summer back in Gunma.

Kyoko hesitated at first, but realizing that she had been recognized, she walked slowly towards the former Project D group.

"Takumi-kun, Fumihiro-san, Matsumoto-san," she bowed at each name, nervousness obvious in her voice.

Kenta felt his stomach sink. She hadn't even remembered his name.

There was uncomfortable silence until static came over Fumihiro's radio. "They're at the eleventh corner! The Subaru is ahead but Keisuke-san's right on his tail!"

Kyoko felt her heart leap into her chest at the sound of his name. She looked around, where was Darling's brother?

The rest of the group observed her confused search and looked hesitantly at each other. The Takahashi family had not released any information about their son's accident to the media and had to pay a high monetary price for the silence, despite tabloid speculation. It was a private matter, but people were bound to wonder, especially after this battle.

"Kyoko-chan," Fumihiro started, "there's something you should know."

-----------

Keisuke's heart began pounding as they neared the last set of hairpins. There had been numerous places where he could have overtaken the Subaru in front of him but he chose not to. Remembering the increased concentration he had achieved after being passed, he did not want to give the driver in front of him the same advantage by passing him prematurely.

And then, just as Kyoko had, the driver wavered ever so slightly over a puddle of rocks along the right side of the bend. Keisuke capitalized on this advantage and pulled to the outside, accelerating to match the other car's placement going into the next curve.

He began to drift to the right, holding his line and simultaneously pinning the other driver in his place. They were even coming out of the corner but as they turned left for the next, Keisuke let loose more of his car's previously reserved power and pulled out in front. Bystanders cheered the reversal and the gap between the two drivers increased slightly on the remaining hairpins.

As the last straightaway to the goal approached, Keisuke revved his engine to the max and left the other car in a cloud of dust.

-----------

"This is the goal," the radio cracked, "I can see headlights approaching!"

The group of five at Akagi's peak held their breath.

"It's the FD!"

Kyoko released the breath she hadn't realized she was holding. Ever since being informed of Ryousuke's condition, she had been berating herself for being so selfish. That day at the restaurant probably wasn't a direct result of her actions or Keisuke's dislike of her, but an oversight due to worry for his brother. Besides, she recalled that Family's was not one of his favorite places to eat.

The radio continued to announce the finishing. "The other car is just now approaching. It's too far behind! Keisuke's won!"

Takumi smiled and Fumihiro nodded in satisfaction, recalling one of his past conversations with Ryousuke. "He's ready," he whispered inaudibly.

-----------

Thanks again for reading this! I'm so happy that you have been enjoying the story and I love writing it. It's really great that so many of you are also going into medical fields; you feel my pain! Good luck from me (and Legendary Neo-Jin) to Takahashi "Kyona" Ryopun, CelickaChick, and everyone else for your pursuits and accomplishments. It's so nice to have such a mix of people with the same passion for Initial D (and Ryousuke, lol). Your reviews have been priceless to me and they are such an encouragement. Thank you ALL!

I promise, also, that the little ambiguities I threw into this chapter will be cleared eventually, most of them in a good way :).Also, I'm looking for a beta-reader for the racing scenes that I plan to write as I know very little if not nothing about the sport (except of course, what I learned through watching the anime). Ifyou're interested, pleaseeither leave your email in a review or email me directly ) and I will get back to you soon!Thanks again! Enjoy.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

-

Keisuke didn't bother to pause after the battle, but drove instead straight to Takasaki Hospital. It was past midnight and he knew that visiting hours were over, but he had to try and see Ryousuke anyway. He could surely coax one of the young nurses to let him in.

"I'm sorry Takahashi-san," said a young nurse.

Keisuke looked at her nametag. "Atsuko-chan," he pleaded, "may I just see him for a minute? It's important."

She shook her head lightly. "I'm sorry, but we have rules."

"He's my Aniki," he said, leaning a bit closer. "And it would –"

"Keisuke!"

A small shiver crept down his spine. "Otousan," he dug his hands into his pockets, "what an unexpected pleasure?"

"I'm about to leave," Ryouichi said disapprovingly, nodding to dismiss the nurse. "I trust you will apologize to Atsuko-chan for your impish begging and return home _without_ disturbing Ryousuke."

Disheartened, Keisuke nodded as his father walked away. He too turned, ready to apologize, but a soft hand caught his arm.

"No more than five minutes," said the nurse, smiling. "I'll be watching you." She slid her access card though the door and left to give the brothers some privacy.

Keisuke grinned and bowed a deep thank you. When he entered Ryousuke's room, the lights were off and the constant beeping of different machines were the only audible sounds that he could hear.

He sat by the bedside and shoved his hands in the front of his sweatshirt. "I won, Aniki."

Ryousuke was sound asleep.

Keisuke looked at his expression, calm and collected, unaffected by the fact that he had recently undergone extensive orthopedic surgery. "I beat the crap out of that WRX. They're going to Akina in a couple of weeks and Fujiwara will kill them too. I know it; you trained us both well."

After a few moments of silence, "Arigato, Aniki. I couldn't have done it without you."

As he closed the door, Keisuke felt a weight lift from his shoulders. As he walked out of the elevators, he noticed a young woman sitting on the couch in the entranceway who looked vaguely familiar.

"Kyoko-chan!"

She looked up and smiled. "Hello, Keisuke-kun. I don't mean to bother you…Fumihiro-san told me what happened and I assumed…"

He stopped her stammering explanation with a wave of his hand. "I'm sorry about the restaurant. I completely lost track of time and…"

She smiled at him, "It's fine, Keisuke-kun. I understand."

They looked at each other uncomfortably, the silence was deafening.

"Well I…"

"I should…"

The situation became even more awkward and when Kyoko took her hand out of her jacket pocket, her silver cell phone clamored onto the floor.

They both kneeled to pick it up and his hand touched hers. When Keisuke looked up, their faces were centimeters apart; he could feel her hot breath on his lips.

Kyoko was mortified. _He's going to think I'm a clumsy, intrusive…_

And then something brushed her lips, so softly that she thought she had imagined it. The musky scent of cologne invaded her senses and a slightly calloused finger brushed her cheek.

She felt her body tremble under his touch. "Keisuke-kun…"

Keisuke breathed out and let his eyelids open. For a moment he stood frozen in time, terrified, suddenly realizing where, or to whom, his impulses had taken him. "Kyoko-chan. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have…I…Goodbye."

He rushed out of the front door, flustered. _What had he done?_ He wasn't on a professional team yet, he hadn't achieved his goal yet, and he most definitely could not yet spare the time for a relationship. But was it really that? Project D had definitely given him more confidence and he felt almost ready to enter into the professional field. What if it was something else?

Then he remember Fumihiro's words from months earlier. "I don't think what happened with your last girlfriend will happen with her. She's a driver, herself."

Would Kyoko understand his need to put her second? He shook his head and floored the accelerator. The man was right, but it was still difficult to even consider entering into another relationship with someone he could imagine compromising driving to be with. Keisuke realized it was _his own_ priorities that could endanger his future racing career. In his rearview mirror, the hospital disappeared from sight.

_I have someone else to think of too now._

-

Kyoko stood kneeling in the middle of the waiting room walkway, gently touching her lips with tears streaming down her cheeks. She heard the FC peeling out of the parking lot and felt her shoulders slump. How much was too much? How long should she hold out before finally just giving up?

"But why this if he didn't care about me?"

Sighing heavily and drying her eyes, rose to leave the hospital.

-

"Takumi-kun!"

Mogi's voice caught his attention and his head snapped around just in time to catch her as she jumped into his arms and gave him a long kiss on the cheek.

Red-faced at the public display he had just been involved in, Takumi gently placed her down. "Be careful, next time I might not catch you." He thrust his hands into his pockets to dig for his keys.

She smiled, thinking he looked more adorable than usual when he blushed. "Did you bring your cute little car?"

_Cute_, Takumi thought. How masculine. "Yes, it's the only car I have, remember?"

Her smile faded a bit. "Aren't you excited to see me? I've been waiting for this day forever!"

He grasped her small hand in his larger one to attempt to silently convey his feelings. "There have just been a couple of things going on recently that have kept my mind occupied."

"Well let's talk about it in the car," she suggested, getting in the passenger side. Takumi finished loading her bags in his trunk and climbed in. He looked to his left and saw her smiling back at him, feet on the edge of the seat, legs bundled under her arms. Familiarity was very nice indeed.

-

A small knock on the door woke Ryousuke from his slumber and it immediately opened revealing his brother, smiling sheepishly. "Guess what?"

"I'm sure you're planning to tell me regardless so please continue."

He held out a brown magazine bag from the bookshop. "This month's edition of Amateur Racing Digest just came out. Wait till you see who's on the cover."

Ryousuke moved the turntable aside and removed the magazine.

_Akagi's Eternal Heart Throbs._ Above the caption was an obviously computer edited photograph of the Takahashi brothers standing in front of their vehicles.

"I'm surprised that you would buy such thing, Keisuke."

"I usually wouldn't, but a girl came up and asked for an autograph and an engagement ring," Keisuke chuckled. "Oh come on, Aniki, back before and during Project D, we were known as legendary racers. Now that it's over and our legend is known and spread, we've been reduced to teenage eye candy. Ironic, isn't it?"

Ryousuke smiled. "Indeed. Is this supposed to amuse me for the next two days?"

Keisuke shrugged.

"I need to talk to you about something, Otouto," Ryousuke said, placing the magazine on the bed and pulling his computer back in front of him.

Keisuke raised an eyebrow. It had been a while since he was called by that name.

"I received two emails about a week ago and I think you should read them." He swiveled the table so that Keisuke could read the text on his laptop. His brother's eyes widened and he could tell that Keisuke was overwhelmed.

"Aniki, does this mean?"

Ryousuke nodded. "They want to see you battle before inviting you to try-out on their own respective circuits; it's a tactic often used when professionals scout mountain pass racers to see what they can do on their own turf and whether or not their styles can adapt to the ones used on the circuit."

Keisuke nodded, the corners of his mouth upturning.

"Don't get too excited yet, Keisuke," Ryousuke reminded him. "This is only interest. You have to continue your improvement to ensure a space on their team."

Keisuke nodded again, still smiling.

"But let me be the first to say," Ryousuke smiled, "congratulations."

His brother chucked. "And I thought _I_ had the news of the day. You always have to outdo me!"

Ryousuke smiled. It is you, Keisuke, who has outdone me. He felt a small pit of jealousy burn in the pit of his stomach. His brother was being invited to drive with professionals while he was sitting immobilized in a hospital bed.

"Once I am well," Ryousuke thought bitterly, "I will still be returning to this place."

"Aniki?" Keisuke's voice jolted him back to attention. He quickly closed his emotions and put on a stoic face.

"Hmm?"

"When do they want to watch?"

"I'll email them the dates of battles that will be optimal for showing off your skills; one where your win is guaranteed to exhibit your speed, and one where your opponent is very difficult and superior in vehicle to exhibit your technique and ability to adapt to disadvantageous conditions." Ryousuke turned his attention back to his laptop. "These processes are often slow because the outcome requires such a long commitment. Both teams have given us up to six months to act; you will be a spring recruit since none of them drive on snow."

Keisuke nodded dreamily. "Hai, Aniki, whatever you say."

Knowing that his brother was beyond speaking seriously about driving at the given moment, Ryousuke turned back to his computer while Keisuke opened the magazine and had an interesting afternoon with his brother reading about every inch of their physical characteristics.

-

"Manaka-chan," a nurse commented, "are you feeling well today? You look quite pale."

She looked up at the matronly woman and smiled reassuringly. "I am fine Saito-san. Just tired from working."

The motherly nurse looked sympathetically at the young woman. Manaka was such a hard worker; going to school, holding a full time job as a waitress, and volunteering constantly at the hospital. "Please don't overwork yourself, dear, you're becoming painfully thin. In fact, stop folding those and just bring these towels to Suite 3 on the fourth floor."

Manaka straightened and groaned as her back muscles protested the movement. "Hai."

She walked briskly to the elevators and through the orthopedics wing to the VIP suites in the back. As she passed the glass windows, her heart stopped. Suite 3 was Takahashi Ryousuke's room.

Quietly opening the door to the sitting room adjacent to the actual bedroom, Manaka prayed that he was asleep so she could slip in and out without notice. Her heart was pounding in her ears and she could only manage a small smile and a clumsy bow to his nod of acknowledgement as she went into the bathroom.

Ryousuke vaguely recognized the young woman. Her uniform was not that of a nurse or a maintenance employee so he could only assume that she was a medical student of some sort serving mandatory volunteer hours. They most likely crossed paths during their work at the hospital.

A muffled gasp from the bathroom caught his attention. Ryousuke turned his attention from the computer screen to the doorway. Moments later, the young woman reentered the room, flushed, struggling to release something from her shoulders. It was almost comical.

"I'm so sorry Takahashi-kun," she apologized, blushing a deep crimson. She exited the patient room backwards while unsuccessfully trying to un-attach the medical adhesive from her back.

Ryousuke felt sympathy from this obviously flustered and highly embarrassed young woman. "May I help you with that?"

Manaka blushed further. "No, please…don't worry yourself! It's just some medical tape…"

He reached out his left hand and motioned for her to approach the bed. Reaching up, Ryousuke easily removed the perpetrator from between her shoulder blades. Touching her delicate figure was oddly titillating for Ryousuke; he couldn't explain the effect that such a small amount of contact had on him.

Manaka was holding her breath. She was frozen by the softness of his touch; it felt heavenly compared to the rough hands of Kintaro.

He couldn't take his hand off of her back, she was silently drawing him to her. Ryousuke didn't understand his feelings; perhaps the narcotic analgesics were momentarily affecting his senses. She turned around and his hand inadvertently trailed down her arm. Realizing his actions, Ryousuke quickly removed it. As his hand clumsily left the young woman's forearm, it displaced the sleeve of her shirt, revealing what Ryousuke swore was a dark bruise.

Manaka saw that his line of sight had changed and followed his gaze. Immediately, she withdrew her arm and bowed deeply. "Arigato, Takahashi-kun." She quickly left the room.

"Wait."

She turned around, nervously biting her lip. "Yes?"

"You know my name," Ryousuke asked, "but I don't yet know yours."

Manaka blushed again and managed a small smile. "Kobayashi Manaka."

"It was a pleasure to meet you, Kobayashi-chan."

She tore out of the room as quickly as she could while still doing so politely.

Ryousuke looked at his left hand oddly and shook his head before returning to his computer. It was the first time in months where he forgot about racing, medicine, and the conflict both waged on his mind.

-

Manaka knew she was in trouble. She was falling for someone she barely knew! She never hid her feelings well and if Kintaro-kun found out…"

This wasn't working, she thought to herself. There had to be a way for her to give back to Kintaro-kun everything he had given her. Once their debt was cleared, then she would no longer feel obligated to stay with him; her emotional debt was long overpaid.

"I have to find a way!"

-

A week after the operation, Ryousuke was given a heavy dose of pain medication, loaded into the Takasaki Hospital Transportation Van, and driven slowly back to the Takahashi residence.

When he was comfortably settled in the bed that was adapted recently to incorporate the traction for his leg and knee, his family allowed him some peace and quiet. The soft yellow lights emanating from the overhead lamp were soothing compared to the glare of the fluorescents. It was indeed good to be home.

A wheelchair at the end of the bed reminded him of his current condition. Although it had been nearly three weeks since the accident, he was still bedridden and could not leave it for another month. Ryousuke began to feel restless.

His parents had hired a nurse to live with them until their eldest son was recovered enough to begin physical therapy. Umi-san was a stern elderly lady, as Ryouichi had requested. The last thing he needed in his household was to have hired staff fawning over his sons.

Ryousuke didn't mind her at all, except for the baths where he felt personal discomfort and humiliation on top of his physical agony. To her credit Umi-san was a perfect professional, but that didn't stop Keisuke from teasing his brother with a sponge every so often.

Sometimes Ryousuke longed for a cigarette to calm his nerves and Keisuke was a cherished supplier. His mother greatly disapproved of the habit shared by the men in her household and forbid the use of it in the house, but allowed Ryousuke to indulge inside with the balcony door open. He was smoking less now, not being able to do so in the hospital had calmed the craving to sporadic bouts when stress or pain was high.

Two weeks after returning home, Ryousuke called his brother into his room.

"What do you need, Aniki?" Keisuke asked from the door with a grin. "Sponge bath?"

Ryousuke gave him a disapproving glance, letting Keisuke know that what he needed was a serious matter. "There's been a challenge issued by a team from Nagano."

"So? We've met racers from that area; not very skilled."

"You can't take this one lightly, Keisuke," he met his brother's gaze. "I plan to invite the scouts to this race."

Silence emanated throughout the room. "Oh…"

"They've requested an uphill and a downhill race," Ryousuke continued after giving his brother a minute to digest the news. "I've decided that, since this race will be to show off your power, it is wiser to put you on the climb."

"But Aniki…" Keisuke began to protest. No doubt Ryousuke would have Fujiwara race the downhill. "Project D is over."

Ryousuke shook his head at his brother's pout. "Formally, it is, but this team was formed recently and was unable to challenge D when we were still active. It will be a good opportunity to give Fujiwara some attention as well."

Keisuke frowned; Fujiwara was a good guy, but the scouts were here to watch _him_ drive. Why was Ryousuke so adamant about showing the Hachi-Roku?

"I know what you're thinking, Keisuke," Ryousuke replied, reading his brother's thoughts. "The scouts are there to recruit you. They are both from respected teams and currently, they still consider Fujiwara too young to race with them. At most, they will keep tabs on him until he turns twenty next year."

Still bitter, Keisuke nodded.

"What happens with Fujiwara is no longer any of your concern, Keisuke." Ryousuke's voice commanded attention, and his brother automatically straightened. "It's been scheduled for three weeks from next weekend. Nagano is a good distance and the teams have many battles planned before reaching Akagi. I would suggest you use the time to practice your acceleration and cornering techniques."

"Hai."

-

Manaka stood in line at the bank to deposit her recent paycheck. She had been working for two years and spending very little; she couldn't be too far from her goal now.

"May I please have a balance check?"

The teller punched in some numbers and wrote digits on a piece of paper, folded it in half, and passed it to her customer.

"Arigato."

Nervously, Manaka unfolded the statement.

_¥ 20,004,321.67 _

She felt her heart sink. Not even halfway. Kintaro's face once again clouded her vision. How much longer did she have to pretend? Placing the bank note into her wallet, Manaka looked at the picture of her family that she always kept with her.

Her father stood proudly in the background with her mother sitting in the front. Manaka had a hand placed on her mother's shoulder and her little brother was on her other side, smiling gleefully in his blue suit with missing front teeth. It was taken four years ago and they had been so happy. How could it have all gone wrong so quickly?

Manaka quickly stuffed her wallet back into her purse, closing opening on the bag, desperately attempting to shut the demons from her past in as well.

Resolving to finish the matter and release herself from Kintaro's prison, she walked briskly back into the bank.

-

Well I hope you guys all enjoyed this chapter! Thanks so much for the reviews from the last one, they were great and really encouraging. You guys are all AWESOME!Since there is a little hint of implied violence going around in the story, I was wondering if I should up the rating to PG-13; what do you guys think? Let me know, but for now I'll just keep it at PG. Thanks again for being great! Now I'm off to go watch the Superbowl.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

-

The second weekend of August was quickly approaching and Keisuke began staying longer and longer at Akagi, hitting the mountain passes whenever he could spare the time. His visits to Ryousuke's room became limited only to times when he needed driving advice.

Keisuke knew that this next race would not be a challenge. The opposing car was a Turbo S15; not much of a match for the FD. Ryousuke was consistently researching new data on the team and keeping track of the outcome of the races. For this, Keisuke was every grateful.

He hadn't spoken with Kyoko for almost a month, but she had been on his mind almost every night.

Keisuke decided that he would call her after this next battle. It was too important for him to sacrifice his concentration over a small infatuation with a girl. He was no longer doing this for himself, either. Every since Keisuke had been in high school, he understood the constant pressure his brother was under to succeed academically. He understood Ryousuke's passion for driving and cars, knowing full well that his brother had a natural aficionado on the road that was rare among even professional drivers and not found in himself. He also understood that his father would never agree to such a career pursuit.

"So instead he used his talents and nurtured _my_ dream," thought Keisuke. Until he joined the Redsuns years ago, he had always taken for granted Ryousuke's driving and analytical talent; never realizing just how extraordinary his brother really was, in both ability and character. Keisuke realized that if he were in Ryousuke's situation, he would have been bitter and rebellious. He would never have been able to conform to his father's demands, leave his own pursuits, and watch his brother achieve everything he wanted for himself.

"Aniki's living his dreams through me," Keisuke thought to himself. "I have to do well and make him proud."

-

Takumi slammed his hand into the steering wheel in frustration. In front of him, the blue WRX came to a stop, reversed, and backed up to meet him. Bunta's face appeared as the window lowered.

"Mildly better," he puffed his cigarette, "but still nothing worth congratulating yourself over."

"Must you rub it in all the time?" his son asked, scowling at his father. _Shitty, boastful old man._

Bunta smiled, blowing a stream of smoke from his lips. "I told you a long time that you had a lot to gain from losing. It's just a pity that the skills of drivers nowadays have deteriorated to the point where none of them can beat you. Pity, pity."

"That's not true; some still can and most likely will."

Bunta thought for a moment. "You're probably right, but from what I understand, you won't be challenging him again."

Takumi realized that his father was referring to Takahashi Ryousuke. "That's not for sure."

"No it's not," Bunta agreed, "but what's the point if he's not going to do anything with the few skills he has?"

"Ryousuke-san's skills are not limited to driving."

"The full potential of a person's skills are limited to what they want to do," said Bunta, smashing his cigarette butt into the tray of his car. "But life doesn't always work around what you want, Takumi. Many factors can get in the way and sometimes, you have to compromise."

A burning question itched in the back of Takumi's mind. "Oyaji, did you ever want to race professionally?"

Bunta paused for a moment before answering. "Yes."

"Why didn't you go?"

Big brown eyes and soft brown hair flashed through his mind. He could still smell the jasmine on her skin and remembered how the right side of her lip curved just a bit more than the left when she smiled.

"Oyaji?"

Bunta came back to attention and answered his son's question. "Something better came along."

Confused and interested, Takumi met his father's gaze. For the first time, he saw a hint of sadness in his Bunta's normally passive eyes. It was obvious of what, or of whom, he was thinking. "Was it worth it?"

Bunta looked out his window and saw those same brown eyes staring back at him from a different face. She had left him physically, but her presence remained in their son. "Still is."

Unused to sentimental statements from his father, Takumi raised an eyebrow and stared on with his mouth hanging open. The Subaru tore down the road and stopped about fifty meters ahead of him, flashing its emergency lights, taunting him for another run.

Releasing his handbrake and putting in the clutch, Takumi accepted the challenge and braced himself for another loss.

-

"All looks well, Ryousuke," Nozomi declared, checking through the x-rays. "I think we can begin physical therapy in a week."

Ryousuke nodded, sitting on the examination table with Ryouichi standing near the doorway. "Arigato, Noriyazaka-Sensei."

Nozomi waved him off. "Your body did most of the work, we just kept tabs on its progress."

He picked up the clipboard again. "It shows here also that your wrist is completely healed, so I'd like to place you in a wheelchair for the week or so and then transfer you to crutches when your leg's strengthened some more."

The news was music to Ryousuke's ears. No more bed confinement. He nodded in understanding.

"I would recommend, though, Ryousuke," the doctor said, "that you either stay in the wheelchair or stay in bed. Too much movement will not only cause unnecessary pain, but delay healing. That leg is not at the strengthening stage just yet."

Ryouichi's pager began beeping and the older man, recognizing the number, excused himself to make the call.

Nozomi waited until the door shut to continue. "I know that you've probably questioned your future ability to race."

Ryousuke felt a small urge to protest and protect his carefully masked concern, but realized that it was useless. He chose not to react and instead, focused on a point beyond the doctor.

"I know also," Nozomi continued, ignoring his patient's apparent lack of interest, "that with your current medical expertise, you are not ignorant of the barriers which stand ahead of you."

He walked around and rolled the wheelchair to the edge of the bed. Motioning with his hands, he helped Ryousuke into the chair, propping his leg on the holder.

"You remind me of my older brother; constantly pushing himself to do the best in everything and never being satisfied with himself."

Ryousuke was now listening attentively, not quite understanding where the conversation was progressing.

"My future, Noriyazaka-Sensei, is…"

The doctor interrupted him. "Ryousuke, I'm not telling you what to do with your future. I know young men like you; I used to be one of them." He grinned. "When you want something, you go at it with all you've got." Nozomi latched the restraints on the extension of the chair which prevented unnecessary movement of Ryousuke's leg. "I'm sure you've covered this in one class or another, but I would just like to remind you; the healing process is different than driving. Push yourself too hard, and your progress could backfire. It's like swimming; move too much and you could sink, relax a little and you just might be able to float."

It was then that Ryousuke understood what Nozomi meant. When he was training Fumihiro years back, he had made a similar analogy about the acceleration of cars.

Ryouichi reentered the room before Ryousuke could make a response. Wisely, both doctor and patient remained silent. "Arigato, Nozomi-san."

"My pleasure Takahashi-Sensei," he bowed and looked pointedly at Ryousuke. "I trust that you know what's best for yourself. I'll see you in a week."

-

Keisuke was home when his brother and father returned. He winced as he saw Ryousuke's face pale while being lowered to the ground from the car and up the ramp his father had commissioned recently, leading to the doorway of their house.

"It's good to have you home and mobile, Aniki," commented Keisuke, pushing the chair into the house. He saw small drops of sweat fall down Ryousuke's sideburns and a muscle twitch in his cheeks. It was obvious that Ryousuke was in a great deal of pain.

"I'll grab some Vicodin." Keisuke walked into the kitchen and removed two tablets from the prescription bottle.

Ryousuke silently, but gratefully, took the caplets and placed them into his mouth, swallowing them without water. Keisuke wheeled him into the music room where his laptop was waiting on the wooden desk next to the piano. "Arigato."

"Aniki," Keisuke began, "there's something I should tell you before…"

Ryousuke clicked to receive his emails and suddenly, his inbox overloaded with hundreds of messages. "What the hell…"

"A nurse tattled."

Ryousuke rubbed his forehead. Sure enough, all of the emails were wishing him well and offering services. In addition, many fans inquired about the condition of the FC. "This is not what I need right now."

"I'm sorry," Keisuke said. "If it makes you feel any better, Otosan had her reprimanded and transferred to a smaller hospital immediately."

"What's done is done." Ryousuke shook his head. "We need to concentrate on your upcoming battle. It's only to weeks away and I don't need any media attention on _this_." He looked down at his encased leg. "I'm sorry to be cross, Keisuke, but one week is not enough time…"

"For what, Aniki?" Keisuke was very confused. "I've been practicing everyday and so has Fujiwara. We're both very ready to do whatever we can to win this race."

"You need to understand something, Keisuke," Ryousuke looked seriously at his brother. "These scouts are not looking for your victory; they take for granted that it will happen. Recall that when I first informed you of their intentions, I told you that you would have an easy race to showcase your skill and a difficult race to show how well you work under pressure."

Keisuke nodded.

"This is the race that will exhibit your skill," Ryousuke said. "You drive on instinct, and you push yourself as hard as you are pushed by your opponent."

"Is that a problem?"

Ryousuke shook his head. "My concern is that, without a worthy opponent pushing you, you will not be able to push _yourself_ to the limit."

A dubious frown creased Keisuke's brow. "Aniki…"

"I want you to practice Fujiwara twice before the battle; downhill time trials, on Akina."

Keisuke's eyes widened. "But Aniki…"

"I'll talk to Fumihiro and schedule a time," Ryousuke turned to his computer. "Until then, practice cornering."

"Hai," Keisuke left the room slightly angry. The race was on Akagi; why was he going to Akina? More importantly, what did he have to gain from racing Fujiwara?

-

Her manager looked at her with concern. "Manaka-chan, you can't possibly work anymore than you already do."

She looked at him with pleading eyes. "My classes at the university have been going well and I get my certification at the beginning of next year. I really need to save up before then."

He looked doubtful. She was an excellent employee but he hated to see her overworked and yet, he knew that, for some reason, she needed the extra money.

"I don't mean to intrude," he started, "but can't any of your family help you with your finances?"

He immediately regretted his question when she looked down at her hands and started trembling. "I'm sor—"

"I don't have any family, sir."

He nodded sympathetically. "I'll give you an evening shift on the weekends. A lot of the time, we'll get some drivers going to the mountain passes and they tip well."

She managed a grateful smile, "Arigato."

As Manaka walked out of the restaurant and sat in her car. She was exhausted. Working more was tearing her body apart, but the thought of leaving Kintaro sooner was well worth the effort. Her debt would be quickly repaid, she was so close. Breathing deeply, she started her car and headed to the hospital for another six hours of field study.

-

Keisuke floored the accelerator of the FD as he sped past a corner on Akina's downhill. It was two days before the battle and the second time he and Fujiwara had 'practiced' together. A familiar feeling began to churn in his stomach.

No matter what Keisuke did, he could not keep up with the damned Hachi-Roku; what the hell was this! Was this Ryousuke's way of telling him that Fujiwara was better? That he wasn't good enough!

Back at the peak, Fumihiro and Matsumoto sat on a rock, stopwatches in their hands.

"Eh, Fumihiro."

"Hmm?"

Matsumoto cocked his head towards the road. "What's going on there? Why are they racing on Akina?"

The other man smiled. "Because it's the only place where Keisuke's almost assured to lose."

Matsumoto's eyes widened. "Why would Ryousuke-san set up something like this?"

"Sometimes losing a little means learning a lot," he mused. "Keisuke's gotten quite used to winning; since the conclusion of Project D, his opponents have never quite matched the same caliber as the ones we used to face."

Matsumoto began to understand. "And since Keisuke needs to push himself to the limit on Saturday, Ryousuke wants him to feel challenged again."

Fumihiro nodded and met his gaze. "When you're an instinctive driver like Keisuke, you can only drive as fast as your car allows, your abilities allow, and as hard as your opponent pushes you. It's no secret that Fujiwara and Keisuke have an ongoing rivalry and that on Akina, Fujiwara is almost unbeatable. Ryousuke wants to capitalize on this opportunity and turn some of Keisuke's excited energy into competitiveness."

The yellow FD sped past them, tearing aggressively down the road. Fumihiro looked at his stopwatch, chuckled, and said abstractly, "Even from a wheelchair, you know what's going on and what's going to happen," he murmured to himself.

Matsumoto bent over to look at the time and his eyes widened. He let out a low whistle.

Saturday would be no problem at all.

-

The race day approached and Keisuke began feeling more and more unsettled. On Friday evening, he walked into Ryousuke's room to see his brother dozing off in his wheelchair in front of his desk.

As he closed the door again, Ryousuke awakened.

"I'm sorry Aniki," Keisuke said lightly, "I didn't mean to wake you."

Ryousuke shook his head and motioned for Keisuke to sit down on his bed. "There are some things I need to go over with you before the race."

"I know…acceleration…cornering," Keisuke listed off the different techniques that he predicted Ryousuke would mention. He ground his teeth as he remembered the Hachi-Roku pulling away from him at the corner and passing him on the hairpins.

His brother smiled. "No, I know how hard you've been practicing." He wheeled backwards to face the bed. "Don't go out and drive tonight or tomorrow morning."

Keisuke's head shot up. "What? What do you mean? That's insane!"

"Keisuke," Ryousuke became very stern, "you are too tense; you need to take a break."

Keisuke felt his temper flare. Weeks of minimal sleep were beginning to creep up on him. The little "tour" of Akina had also weighed heavily on his ego. "What do _you_ know about taking a break!"

Ryousuke looked up at his brother with a leveled gaze, but was interrupted before he could say anything to calm him down.

"_You've_ never taken a single break in your life and look! You're _fine_! No," Keisuke continued, "_better_ than fine!"

He got up and began walking to the door. "I can practice all day and all night and I _still_ won't be as good as you."

"Otouto," Ryousuke began, "that's not true and you know it."

Keisuke felt stress turn into anger. "No…Fumihiro told me on Akina; that team from Tokyo? Mazda Dominion? That was the team you were accepted into!"

Keisuke rubbed his brow with both hands. "As a high school graduate, _you_ were accepted into one of the best teams in the country and _I_ was still grinding my gears at stoplights!"

His voice was rising. "I'm almost _twenty-three_ and I can't even beat a nineteen-year-old driving an ancient metal bucket with a fancy engine!"

Ryousuke could tell that his brother's successive defeats on Akina were eating away at him.

"What the hell was that, huh?" Keisuke continued. "What, wasn't it enough that _you_ are always better than me, but you needed to show me that Fujiwara, your little prodigy, was too!"

Ryousuke should his head and met Keisuke's gaze. "Sometimes it's better to display emotion on the mountain passes rather than through your words, Otouto."

Keisuke practically sneered at his brother before opening the door to leave. "Look where displaying emotion on Akagi got you."

As soon as the words came out of his mouth, Keisuke wanted to take them back. What had happened? Why did he loose control?

"Aniki…"

Ryousuke shook his head and held out a hand to stop him. "I understand, Keisuke. Just know I have only your best interests at mind." He gave his brother a silencing look that booked no refusal. "Go to sleep; you'll need it for tomorrow."

Hesitantly, Keisuke closed Ryousuke's door and almost ran over his mother walking to his room. "Okasan! What are you doing awake?"

She raised an eyebrow at her youngest. "Not everyone is as lucky as your Otousan to be able to sleep through the clamor you just caused."

He looked down shamefaced. "You heard it all?"

Kiyori looked up at her much taller progeny. "I heard enough."

Wisely, Keisuke followed his mother into the kitchen where she began warming water. "You were out of line, Keisuke."

His shoulders slumped. "I know; I don't know what got into me…It's just…"

She put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Ryousuke knows better than to take it personally, but both of you just need to calm down. I know you have a race tomorrow and that there will be important people there."

He nodded mutely.

"Your Aniki is just worried about you; we all are." He had been getting little sleep in the past weeks and his behavior almost reminded her of Ryousuke during medical school. The only difference was that while she knew Ryousuke was capable of juggling multiple tasks at once, whereas Keisuke was the type to fully dedicate himself to one pursuit and could rarely handle the stresses of two.

Keisuke accepted the small mug of lemon water his mother handed to him and took a sip. "I'll be fine."

Kiyori looked at his spiky blonde head and patted it affectionately. "I know, and so will Ryousuke, but know that inside, he is conflicted as well."

"That's not possible," Keisuke said between sips of hot liquid. "When does he ever get conflicted?"

"That shows how much about your brother you don't yet know."

Keisuke raised an eyebrow at his mother.

"It wasn't easy for him to give up driving, you know," she said. "I remember around the time he went to Tokyo for that team, he was so happy. He left barely able to keep his face from cracking into two pieces; I could tell that he was excited beyond anything fathomable."

She placed her cup on the kitchen counter. "When he got back, something in him changed."

Keisuke could tell his mother was on the verge of tears and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. She covered it with her own.

"Ryousuke left to see if he could actually make it in the professional world," she explained. "When it turned out that he could, he not only realized how good he was, but also realized the extent of happiness there was in the life he could never have, and that, Keisuke, was the hardest thing for him to have to bear."

Keisuke sat numbly. "Okasan…"

She smiled at her son. "Finding your dream and knowing that it will never be yours is something that no one should have to deal with and no one comes away from something like that without scars. Not even Ryousuke. Some are better at hiding it than others, but in certain situations, if the events play themselves out in a certain way, you can see how much it tortures them."

Wiping an errant tear from the corner of her eye, Kiyori placed a hand on Keisuke's cheek. "Please, for all of our sakes, get some rest and be careful tomorrow. I don't know if I can handle going through…"

Keisuke gathered his mother in a hug before she could finish her sentence. "I will, Okasan. Please don't worry about me; I have something Ryousuke never had."

Kiyori looked up and smiled softly. "And what is that?"

Her son cocked his head and kissed his mother's cheek. "His own advice."

-

Ryousuke picked up his cell phone and dialed a familiar number.

"Moshi moshi?"

"I need a favor. Swing by my house before heading towards Akagi for the battle on Saturday."

Fumihiro was confused. "Hai."

"Arigato."

-

Wow! I'm so sorry for the delay on this one. My boyfriend came to visit me from his college and I got a bit behind onmy posting schedule. I hope you guys enjoy this Chapter...not too much action but I promise there will be more development in the future; I'm trying to build up some steam, hehe.

Additionally...thanks for all of your WONDERFUL reviews! And of course, I noticed the whole FC/FD mixup when you wonderful people brought it to my attention. Now...will anyone let a computer illiterate girl in on how to change it? It would be wonderful.

I'm so happy you guys are enjoying my story so far. I apologize for the lack of mechanical knowledge and if anyone EVER has any tips, etc, please let me know. Constructive criticism is ALWAYS welcome, whether by review or email. Thanks again for everything! I hope everyone has a great holiday and a lot of good, fattening, food. :)


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

Author's Note: The million "a's" that are in the story are there for section breaks. I normally put dashes but for some reason, the document manager won't let me use them (when I update changes, they disappear). If anyone knows how to fix this problem, please let me know. Thanks!

aaaaaaaaaaa

"…San!"

"…Ni!"

"…Ichi!"

"…GO!"

The Hachi-Roku led the Toyota Celica downhill on Akagi.

Keisuke sat nervously on the hood of his car at the base; he could feel cold sweat building up from the backs of his ears and his hands were clammy. Normally, Ryousuke would always talk with him about strategy before the battle, simultaneously preparing and calming his brother's rattled nerves.

Despite the knowledge that Ryousuke wouldn't have been able to be present even if it weren't for their argument, Keisuke still berated himself for treating his Aniki so harshly. When did following Ryousuke's advice ever steer him in the wrong direction?

In his time of trouble, he quickly found himself desiring his brother's presence. _Am I even ready for the professionals?_

He knew the scouts had arrived; a blue prototype of the progeny of the RX-7 stood parked on the side of the road, indicating that at least the Tokyo scout was nearby. The car was beautiful to Keisuke's eyes. _If only Ryousuke could see it. _Then again, he probably had.

"They've passed the first set of hairpins!" Matsumoto's radio crackled from behind him near the support van. "The Hachi-Roku's still ahead but the Celica is pushing hard!"

The eleventh corner…Keisuke figured that it would be no more than five or six more minutes before the race would be over; surely Fujiwara would not drag it into a second run.

"I'm sorry, Aniki," Keisuke raised a shaking hand to his forehead. "Shit! I can't do this!"

He had never been so tense before. Ryousuke had gone to the hospital early in the morning to have the titanium pins removed from his leg and was resting when Keisuke finally worked up the nerve to apologize for his errant behavior. When he was leaving for the battle, he heard Ryousuke's voice on the phone through the closed door. Deciding not to disturb him, Keisuke left without a word.

"Keisuke-san," Kenta handed him some water. "You don't look so good."

Keisuke glared at the shorter man; Kenta was always stating the obvious. "Is the WRX ready?"

Kenta nodded. "Since we've given them the option of leading or chasing, they've decided to lead this round."

Even without Ryousuke present, Keisuke heard his brother's voice declare it a mistake of inexperienced amateurs who often underestimated the advantage that a home course provided the driver.

"Unless the vehicle is at an extreme disadvantage," Ryousuke would say, "it is wise to chase a car and learn, on the first run, the strategy and skill of the driver."

At least all he had to do was pass the other driver. A distinct sound of a rotary engine caught his attention. The Mazda Dominion car was starting, most likely preparing to drive up the course to observe him on the second set of hairpins. He tried to see the driver, but the tinted windows hindered his site, making Keisuke even more nervous.

Matsumoto came up to him. "Keisuke-san, you should probably begin warming up your engine. They should be coming down any minute."

"Oh…" Keisuke nodded. "Hai…"

Matsumoto was concerned for the young driver; the absence of Ryousuke was effecting them all, more so this battle than the last. Fumihiro's absence was even more disconcerting. "I wonder where he is."

"We're at the last set of hairpins!" the radio exclaimed. "Amazing! The Hachi-Roku's entrance speed is incredible! The Celica can't keep up…"

Keisuke heard no more; he didn't need the radio to tell him how the race would end. A couple minutes later, Fujiwara's car crossed the goal, followed almost five entire seconds later by the Celica.

The driver of the blue Mazda spoke to Matsumoto, who pointed up towards the road and the driver sped off. Keisuke felt a tremor through his spine; cold sweat soaked his back. "I can't drive like this…"

"He can't drive, Matsumoto-san," remarked Kenta. He then ran to the other team to delay the start of the climb for another ten minutes, blaming last minute tuning.

"He doesn't have a choice. There's too much at stake."

Matsumoto looked again at the nervous ace. "He needs you, Ryousuke."

aaaaaaaaaaa

A bang on the door woke Manaka from her shallow slumber. Quickly donning her robe, she walked to the front door to find Kintaro's angry face looming through the peep hole.

"Ssshh! You'll wake everyone!"

He didn't care and barged into the living room and plopped down on the couch, smiling in self-satisfaction. "I got some new parts for the Porsche today. Father had them shipped in from Europe; they certainly make cornering much faster." His feet plopped onto the coffee table, knocking her purse over. "I'll practice some more and shame those idiots who don't think that imports are worth shit."

Manaka knew nothing about cars; she didn't even know how to drive a manual. As usual, she nodded and began to pick up the scattered contents of her purse. A piece of paper with a bank seal fell out and Kintaro seized it before Manaka could hide it from him.

"What the HELL is THIS!"

He knew exactly what it was; a loan statement indicating that Manaka had borrowed over thirty million yen from the bank.

She paled at the volume of his voice. "Kintaro, please. I can explain…"

He slapped her. "The hell you will!"

The force of his hand on her cheek caused her to loose her balance and fall on the coffee table. Tears stung her bruised cheek and she felt his hands grab her arms and jerk her to her feet. "You bitch! Going behind my back like this!"

"I'm only giving you back what I owe you!"

He laughed cruelly. "I don't need your money. You owe me much more than that, Manaka."

His lips crushed hers and she whimpered and twisted under his touch. The taste of sake stained his tongue.

"Let go of her!"

Kintaro turned around and threw Manaka against the wall. "Shut up and go back to your room!"

Tamiko held her ground, green eyes blazing. Behind her, Kioko gripped her little brother's baseball bat and waved it menacingly. "Get OUT of my house or I'll call the police!"

Kintaro grunted and spat at her, returning his attention to Manaka, who was struggling to rise from the ground. "Father tried to tell me you weren't the effort."

She just bit her lip and looked down.

He let out a cruel laugh, bent down to meet her gaze, and roughly grabbed her chin to make her face him. "That's what happens when you don't listen and fall for little bitches like yourself."

Kintaro shoved her down once again. "I'm leaving." He grabbed the loan statement and tore it to shreds. "You're not getting out this easily."

The tears didn't fall until the door slammed shut. The other two girls quickly ran to Manaka and helped her to the sofa. "You're bleeding."

She touched the back of her head and felt a sticky substance. "I'll be fine," she whispered.

"Manaka-chan," said Tamiko, "you _need_ to tell the police. We can't keep on doing this anymore."

She nodded. "I'll leave, I'm so sorry for putting you guys through this."

"No!" Kioko exclaimed. "You've definitely misunderstood us. Kintaro would never harm either of us…our parents would have him executed." Her attempt at humor failed to bring a smile t her friend's face.

"Manaka," Tamiko wiped a tear from her face, "the least we can do is be here with you. I just can't see you go through this again. It's only getting worse."

"You don't understand…" Manaka whispered. "I've dug my grave and I can't get out…"

The other girls cradled her as she cried.

aaaaaaaaaaa

In a Tofu shop across Gunma, a bitter old man finished a small bottle of sake and lit a cigarette.

Slowly rising, he entered his bedroom and from the desk in the corner where he kept his accounting ledgers, removed a worn envelope from the very bottom.

Pinching his cigarette and disposing it, he slowly opened the envelope and pulled out a faded and worn picture.

There she was, he thought.

"Beautiful as ever."

Walking across the hall into the other room, he placed the photograph back into the envelope and onto the bed.

aaaaaaaaaaa

"Keisuke-san," Kenta ran breathlessly towards the FD, "we have to begin otherwise they'll count it as a forfeit."

Keisuke nodded and entered his FD. Revving the engine, he listened to the soothing sound that only a rotary could create. He pulled up slowly to the start line behind his opponent and tried to relax and breathe normally.

Matsumoto began the countdown. "The countdown is ten seconds!"

"Jyuu…" Keisuke's heart began pounding as he heard the smooth hum of the opponent's engine.

"Kyuu…" His hands began to shake and his breath was ragged.

"Hachi…" _I can't do this_.

"Nana…" The interior of the FD seemed to close in on him.

"Roku…" He breathed deeply in an effort to calm himself.

"Go…" Keisuke had to stop his foot from slamming the accelerator. Damn the English that sometime worked its way into Japanese colloquialism.

"Shi…" _I can do this. _

"San…" _No I can't…_

"Ni…" Keisuke felt his entire body tense, waiting for the last number before the actual signal to begin.

It never came. Instead, the familiar honking of Fumihiro's car caught his attention.

The driver of the WRX cursed. "What the _hell _is going on! Is this how you do things in Gunma?"

Ignoring his protest, Matsumoto looked closely at the car and his eyes widened. "Hold on…ten minutes, no more."

"I'm sick of waiting!" demanded the other driver.

Matsumoto walked to his window. "Do you want a _real_ battle?"

"This is what you call a battle? This is what I call WAITING!"

Leveling with the other driver, Matsumoto lowered his voice. "Ten minutes and you'll have your battle."

He then motioned for Keisuke to roll open his driver side window as Fumihiro pulled up just behind the FD on the gallery parking lot.

Expecting more complications and too nervous to look, Keisuke obeyed silently and listened as the car door opened and closed moments later.

Gasps and murmurs could be heard throughout the crowd. Just as his curiosity got the better of him, a familiar voice set his senses into place. "Keisuke."

Snapping his head to his right, Keisuke drew a fast breath. "Aniki!"

Supporting himself on a set of newly acquired crutches, Ryousuke managed to smile down at his brother, taking note his flushed face and the numerous sweat trails leading from his hairline. "Hold back at first and let your opponent get comfortable."

Speechless, Keisuke could only nod. To his great relief, the familiarity of the situation was already soothing his ruffled nerves.

"The scouts are almost certainly stationed towards the second or third set of hairpins before the summit; most likely at the landing where both are visible."

Another nod; the sweat began to recede and Keisuke felt his trembling cease.

"You want the scouts to see you pass the other car, so stay behind him until the third set of hairpins from the end."

His breathing returned to normal and the old burning desire to race found its way back into Keisuke's rolling stomach.

Ryousuke noted the change in his brother's demeanor. "Until you can pass him, make sure that your car is in control coming out of each corner. You cannot be sure where the scout is, so make sure you emphasize precision in every move. Remember the acceleration techniques we spoke about."

"Aniki," Keisuke started, but was quickly silenced by a shake of his brother's head.

"I know, Otouto," he said. "I'll be here when you're done."

Keisuke nodded and revved his engine as Ryousuke slowly made his way back to Fumihiro, avoiding the shocked and concerned looks of the other onlookers.

"ARE WE FINALLY GOING TO MOVE!"

Annoyance and anger replaced Keisuke's former anxiety. "Let's do it."

Fuhimiro took Matsumoto's place at the starting line and began counting down.

"…San!" Keisuke cracked his neck and flexed his fingers.

"…Ni!" He gave the accelerator pressure, reveling in the sound of his engine revving.

"…Ichi!" Looking to his right, he caught his brother's eye. Ryousuke nodded confidently at him. _You can do it, Otouto._

"GO!"

aaaaaaaaaaa

I'm sooo sorry about the lateness in posting. I'm in the middle of a crazy set of prelims and my computer keeps not cooperating with me. I think I'll have to put this on a disk just in case it decides to crash or something.

I've also decided to hike the rating up to PG-13 due to some of the scenes in this chapter. Please let me know what you think…PG or PG-13? I'm not really familiar with the system.

All in all, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, late as it was. Your reviews have been great and I've enjoyed them and I only hope for more (plus a little help with my rating problem). Thanks a lot!


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